grief

The Power to Offer Comfort to Those Experiencing Grief

The Power to Offer Comfort to Those Experiencing Grief

There is no way to see a 6-year-old body in a casket and not feel something heavy inside. This past week, I was reminded again of the fragility of life and the deep ocean that grief can be as I attended the funeral of my friend’s 6-year-old son who passed unexpectedly and tragically. Coincidentally, my husband was simultaneously out of town attending his uncle’s funeral and our family was also commemorating the anniversary of the death by suicide of a close family member. There was so much inside me as I drove home thinking of all these losses. How could they possibly ever be overcome? I wondered if there was anything I could do the lighten the load of grief for these close friends and family. I thought back to a poem I’d studied in my 8th grade English class by Ella Wilcox called Solitude which ends with this stanza:  

Overcoming Grief

Overcoming Grief

Usually, when people think of experiencing grief, they think of someone who is mourning the death of a loved one. While this is a very real and plausible grief situation, there are other less obvious circumstances in which grief is encountered. Grieving the death of someone is the most common way to grieve, but the loss of a place or the loss of time and associated opportunities are other ways to experience grief (Gitterman & Knight, 2019). The social acknowledgement of grief in response to a non-death loss is minimal, and oftentimes people who grieve these losses suffer silently. Therefore, I’ll be exploring ways in which people who grieve a death or non-death loss can cope and overcome these trials. 

7 Practical, Healthy Ways to Find Comfort While Grieving

7 Practical, Healthy Ways to Find Comfort While Grieving

Everyone encounters grief at various points in their life, even though each person's circumstances are unique. Although grief is a universal experience, no one has quite figured out the best way to navigate through it. That's because grief is an impossibly complex response to losing someone or something you held in great value. In other words, grief – while painful – is necessary, and one of the cornerstones of being human.


While there’s no easy method for dispelling grief, there are a number of strategies that can allow you to grieve in a more healthy, productive manner. As you process your own loss, try to make use of the following grieving tips from My Best Self 101 that have helped so many others before.