Grieving is feeling a loss. It can indeed be physical death, but doesn't need to be. It can be any death, including a way of feeling, thinking, believing, or being ~ or the way we thought "life was supposed to go". For some, anything we were "attached to" physically, emotionally, mentally, or spiritually and in this case, a person might be going through a spiritual initiation called a "dark night", "rotting", "emptiness" or "crucifixion". Grief can be brought about by the loss of a home, other material comforts, infertility, illness, a job, divorce, loss of relationships for any reason, loss of a way of life, addiction, incarceration, or even minor losses. How anyone copes with grief and loss depends on many factors including how much support is available, what the other stresses are at the time, our personal beliefs, and our ability for resilience (again most likely based on the situation and other stress). In the case of death, circumstances around that death can make the process more difficult; such as a child dying, a sudden unexpected event, or violence. There may be feelings of guilt or shame and wondering what we could have done differently to prevent this from happening. "Survivor's Guilt" makes the whole process more difficult, but is very normal. Grief can be emotionally overwhelming. Many times, just getting through the day; eating, getting dressed, or doing simple tasks can be difficult. Denial and isolation usually happens as a first step and is also quite normal ~ choosing to retreat inside ourselves and not wanting to talk about how we are feeling to others and isolating to create a safe place or buffer between ourselves and the rest of the world as we dive inward for healing. We are much like a wounded animal, crawling and curling up in a bush, and licking it's wounds.
Feeling our Feelings ~ Helps them to Flow Honoring Our Feminine Energies Within