Loss and grief is a universal experience for everyone, but how we express that grief is very diverse. This Diverse Expressions of Grief blog series will explore how different cultural and faith groups around the world express grief and remember their lost loved ones through symbols, prayer, art, poetry and prose, mantras, rituals, and more.
Each person’s journey through grief is as individual and unique as that person. Many people use the cultures and faiths they grew up in or adopted later in life to help guide them in their expressions of grief. But, people can also additionally look outside the culture and faith groups they identify with for further guidance.
By doing so, people can discover new ways of coping, learn about alternative ways of expressing grief that may be helpful for them, or even just take solace in a beautiful saying or piece of art. Exploring how others from around the world grieve can also serve as a reminder that even as isolating as loss and grief can feel, you are truly not alone in your experience.
The Diverse Expressions of Grief series will explore grief in Ghanaian culture, Mexican culture, Aztec Indian culture, Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Paganism, Atheism, and Taoism.
Be sure to read the blog every other Thursday while the series is running to learn just a sample of the infinite number of ways people express their grief and honor their lost loved ones around the world. There will be a special blog entry for this series on November 1st for Día de Los Muertos (Day of The Dead), a Mexican holiday celebrated throughout the world in which family and friends remember and celebrate loved ones who have died. We hope you enjoy and even gain something positive from the series, and thank you for reading.
About the Contributing Author:
Hilary Dockray came to know The Christi Center through her full-time field internship as a graduate student from The University of Texas at Austin’s School of Social Work. She is expecting her MSSW in December of 2012 and hopes to work in nonprofit administration and management. She is an advocate for the understanding of grief and the support of those who grieve in both her personal and professional lives. Her favorite hobby is writing, so she is delighted to be a guest blogger for The Christi Center.