Suffering in Isolation

A lot of us are lonely. This sense of loneliness is exacerbated by the pandemic, which leads to significant suffering in isolation. Many of us are also isolated from ourselves internally. And then there are groups of us who are structurally and systematically disenfranchised.

This is a truth that is becoming more and more obvious.

So, this is where I think there’s potential for grief to heal these divides because it is something that transcends socioeconomic boundaries. But besides this aspiration that grief can be a grounding mechanism, it’s really important to also note that there’s compounding of loss that occurs in systematically disenfranchised groups.

In some ways, I suppose I have experienced this as a disabled person.

We have something to share between us. We also have something to sort of team up and deal with as disenfranchised individuals. This collective pain can be an unshakeable bond. How do we get what we need? How do we get what we want? . How do we present ourselves to the world? We do that as a team.