Cycle of grief

I have been thinking about the cycle of grief.

As family lawyers we are used to talking to clients about the idea that maybe their spouse is at a different place in the separation experience and we recognise that people bounce around between stages of grief in short time periods until after either a period of time or assistance at processing or for some other reason they progress through the cycle of grief.

Most of us have seen people we think have got stuck somewhere.

Right now, our community is grieving.  Some will process that more coherently than others. When we see an image such as people at the beach or the markets and think, "What were they thinking?", maybe we have to recognise there is a stage called denial.  

Maybe there is some fabulous thinking going on that beaches and markets are healthy. 

I appreciate that we have all had to be managed to get us to comply. Compliance is made easier if you feel agency in the decisions. That you approve of them. Compliance can be inspired by cognitive process or emotional inclination. If neither have resonated, then we have external authority of course.

In amongst the unexpected challenges maybe it just helps to remember that grief is incredibly complex and has its own discrete set of triggers. Keep an eye out for your own!