 |
| ISSUE NO. 702 |
| THE RESPONSE TO OUR RECENT NEWSLETTER ON GRIEF . . . was unexpected. One of the beautiful things about writing this weekly is that we can never predict in advance what will resonate with someone. And while it was probably easy to think that people would relate to grief - something that impacts 100% of humans - we didn't anticipate how impactful your responses would be. Multiple readers shared their observation that there is not enough attention toward grief in the workplace, either in regard to bereavement leave, or awareness of the multitude of ways that people are experiencing grief. Someone even reminded us of the Victorian era practice of wearing black for two years, and we paused on that span of time, thinking about how it must have originated, and what it would be like to offer that level of recognition to grieving people now. What was most surprising was some readers'...surprise. Hearing from an organization in the service industry about grief seemed fairly straightforward as we crafted our thoughts, but your responses reminded us just how hard it can be to address the things that are going on right below the surface. And that service work is about our human to human relations, but often falls under the trap of spiritual bypassing, with an emphasis on everyone we serve being 'happy' instead of feeling connected. Your letters to us also did the important work of highlighting that bereavement in the workplace must be recognized beyond blood relations. There are those of us who have been floored by the loss of a friend, a pet, or someone whose relationship to us might be hard to describe or explain to a boss or coworker. We also heard from someone who created a company that works with people to tell the story of the person they are grieving, and a psychologist who wrote a guide to thoughtfully discussing grief in the workplace. All of this points to the truth that grief is collective. As is the love and care that we provide to ourselves and one another. So says Malkia Devich Cyril in their conversation with Prentis Hemphill on the latest episode of Becoming the People. According to Cyril, "Collective grief is an inciter of collective action...anyone who seeks to deny organizing as a methodology for change is also going to deny grief as a methodology for processing loss. The denial of grief is in somebody's interest - it's in the interest of the same people who produced the loss." This denial of grief is both personal and systemic, and it functions similarly in both cases, to turn us away from one another and toward the things that make us feel a temporary sense of comfort. photo by Alexa Romano |
tidbits...resources on anti-racism, environmentalism and food culture AKA stuff we're reading / listening to / watching / noticing / thinking about / captivated by this Tuesday . . . |
 |