Grieving During the Holidays

Bright shining lights, the twinkling sound of bells, uplifting music heard on every street corner — for many, the holiday season is a joyous time of gathering together with family and friends to celebrate the passing of another year. However, for some, the happiness associated with the holidays can be more of a burden than a blessing. Grieving during the holidays can be especially difficult, surrounded by countless others determined to enjoy festivities and cheer. If you find yourself dreading the holidays this year, know that you’re not alone.

Grieving during the holidays can be challenging, but there are a variety of support systems and grieving methods that can help you overcome the intense emotional struggles associated with losing a loved one — especially during the holidays.

Focus on Family

Family can be an essential form of support during the grieving process. This holiday season, seek out the stability and comfort that connecting with your family can provide. It’s important to have a clear and honest dialogue about your emotional state with the people surrounding you during the holidays. Discuss shifting responsibilities — if it’s normally your task to prepare large quantities of cookies but grief has you feeling immobile, communicate that obstacle to your family. It can be challenging for some to ask others for help but relying on the loving assistance of your family can truly help relieve some of the burdens you feel while grieving during the holiday season. Let the special people in your life know how they can support you to alleviate some of the grieving pain.

Let Go of Holiday Guilt and Grief

Experiencing happiness following the passing of a loved one can occasionally feel guilty —how can you imagine being happy when those who have passed are no longer around to enjoy the good times with you? An important step of the grieving cycle is releasing negative guilt associated with grieving and instead focus your attention on neutrally processing your emotions and bittersweet memories. It’s okay to feel sad during the holidays —and it’s okay to feel happy too. Allowing yourself the freedom to participate in some of the festive merriment is a perfectly natural step of mourning a loss and moving forward towards closure.

But Don’t Force the Happiness

Guilt doesn’t just come from experiencing happiness when grieving during the holidays —for some, attempting to force happiness can cause even more guilt to occur. Nobody wants to feel like their grieving is ruining the joyous holiday atmosphere. However, it is crucial to keep in mind that the holidays don’t necessarily ensure automatic happiness, despite what the songs and commercials promote. For many, the holidays are a stressful time filled with anxiety due to meeting family, party-planning, and all sorts of hectic issues. You can also take comfort in the fact that you’re not the first one to lost someone special during the holiday season. Countless others have faced similar challenges and similar emotional struggles as you and have successfully processed their trauma during a holiday mourning period.

Acknowledge and Honor the Dearly Departed

The holidays are a season of tradition, ornamentation, and memory-making. When dealing with grief, combine your mourning process with a new tradition to honor the memory of those who you’ve lost this year.  There are a variety of unique, subtle ways to intertwine the joyful routines of the holidays with the natural grieving process. Some effective methods of mourning and memorizing during the holiday period include:

• Hosting your own candle lighting ceremony with a Tealight Cremation Urn: Candles and lights are a beautiful part of the holiday atmosphere and candle holder/tealight cremation urns ensure that the memory of your loved one will continue on. Cremation urns for human ashes can come in a variety of different styles. Wooden urns for ashes are popular choices, and metal urns as well.
• Incorporating your cremation jewelry into your holiday outfits: To keep your dearly departed close to you at all times, even during the busy holiday season, consider cremation jewelry.
• Do charity in someone’s name: One of the most rewarding ways to allow someone’s name to live on even after they have passed is by completing charity work or donating money in remembrance of them. There’s no better time than the holidays to appreciate the things you have and assist others who are lacking.

Remembering Pets Who Have Passed

Mourning and grieving aren’t exclusive to just people who have passed; pets are also an enormous part of our lives —and our hearts— and losing them during the holidays can be just as damaging.   The holidays can feel empty and bare without your loyal pet by your side every moment. Keep your animal companion with you at all times with one of these various methods of mourning and remembrance.

• Pet cremation urns: Urns for human ashes are common, but pet cremation urns can also be a special memento that helps honor the memory of your pet. Many can be personalized with custom engraving to memorialize your beloved pet’s memory forever.
• Design a pet ornament: Decorations are an important part of the holiday season and an ornament resembling your pet is a perfect way to keep them in your memories.
• Pet cremation jewelry: Just like cremation jewelry from human ashes, pet cremation jewelry can be a heart-warming way to keep your departed pet close to you at all times. Multiple stylish options can easily match with any festive outfits during the holiday season.

Conclusion

The overwhelming festivity of the holiday season can make it challenging to cope with the passing of a loved one and the natural mourning process; however, grief doesn’t have to overshadow the entirety of your holidays. By allowing yourself to process emotions, seek out support, and start new traditions in memory of the departed, you can slowly start to find the closure you require —and deserve— while grieving during the holidays.