Growing Through Loss vs. Being Crushed by Loss

There’s somewhat of a razor’s edge where loss can lead to growth and expansion, or loss can crush us. So what’s the difference?

It may be hard to distinguish, but a large part of the conversation here is that society has not made space for this. If I’m in pain, dealing with loss, and I look around me, there’s no place for suffering. I can’t see it in other people’s faces. There’s no social structure or safety net waiting for me. There are very few groups and conversations like ours.

When I come to this realization of isolation, I begin to question whether I may be an anomaly, or if something is wrong with me. That’s when I started shrinking, personally. So I think a major part of that razor is determining how to handle loss with each other. If I feel if I’m supported through my loss, then I can be loved and held while I go through it.

I can know that there’s still a place for me in this world.

Then, I can start getting creative and understand what I want to learn from that pain. But all of the growth stems from a response to myself, which is initiated by the response of others to me. So I think what all of us can do here is be there for people who are in active loss or having pain.This could be as simple as holding some emotional space for them.

It doesn’t need to be a massive lift.