Collective Grief. When a public death occurs, as in the passing of Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, waves of grief will be felt around the world. The Nation mourns.
Our Queen was unwavering in her service and loyalty to the people of her country. She was gracious, demure and unruffled. Everyone who met Her Late Majesty would recount how she lit up a room with her radiant smile. She was demure, composed, non-political and above all, she was a devoted daughter, wife, mother and grandmother.
Like any family, the Royal Family have had their ups and downs, “Bumps in the road” as our Late Queen once put it so eloquently. Surely we can all relate to that. She may have been born into the sort of privilege that not many of us could begin to comprehend, but she was still one of us.
As with the death of Princess Diana, Nelson Mandela, Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson, David Bowie, you might wonder (as I often do) why we feel so sad about the death of someone we don’t know or have never physically met.
Grief is complicated. Death stirs up feelings, and let’s face it, we have bucket loads of those. It’s perfectly normal and to be expected.
We form emotional bonds with people in the public eye, fuelled no doubt by the media, social media, the internet TV, radio all of which reaffirms the end of what may have felt like a close personal relationship, without their being any actual reciprocity.
The phenomenon has existed for as long as there have been pubic figures and even before. In ancient cultures The Gods impacted every aspect of human life, it was natural and indeed expected, for people to search for as much information about these Gods as possible, in order to get to know them, bond with them and appease them.
Although it can seem a little confusing at times, to feel grief and deep sadness about the death of someone you don’t know personally, it’s important to allow yourself to feel whatever feelings pop up and to acknowledge them.
Feelings are like waves, they come up, you ride them out, and then they pass.
The death of a public figure can be particularly triggering for people who have recently suffered a personal loss, and if you find yourself unable to cope well enough with the support network you have around you, reach out and speak with a therapist or other mental health professional. Doing this can make a significant difference to the way you feel and the way you process death and grieving.
No one needs to deal with grief alone.
God bless Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
God save King Charles III
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