EWG :: 04. How our grief is silenced

Embodied Writing : Grief series

We live in a culture that puts time limits on grief.  It's common for companies to offer three days of bereavement time to it's employees when a close family member dies.  Many religions have a timeline for honoring the dead immediately after they die, for some it is a week, others it's two, other's still it is a couple days.  The DSM declares that grief that lasts longer than six months is "complex grief" and needs to be “remedied.”

Our own friends and families also give us timelines for grief.  We are told to "get over" a loss and to "look on the bright side" or seek the "silver lining" when tragedy strikes.  

All of these timelines give us a very specific period where we can give voice to our grief, and after that time is up, we are told we need to go silent.