Grief is not one size fits all. It is probably closer to custom made for every single one of us. Grief, therefore, can involve sadness and tears. But it can also be angry, quiet, happy, nauseating, low energy, high energy, laughing, shaking, still, messy, compartmentalized, social, and much, much more. And grief can shape shift in us from year to year, week to week, and even minute to minute. Because grief is so varied, it can be helpful in the long wake of loss to have reminders on hand that we are also varied in mind, heart, and soul. What helps you remember that grief has many forms?
[image description: A heart who is angry crying throws its arms up in the air in a gesture of exasperation and intense grief. Text reads: "Your grief is real. It's the way it is, and that's ok. You're doing it RIGHT. It's yours. 24 APRIL 2020"]
Throughout the pandemic, I have posted messages on my Facebook wall that I needed to hear myself or that I imagined others may be needing to hear. Again and again, these messages spurred collective online processing of a range of challenges and lows and bright spots of living through the pandemic. This series of cartoons is intended to reflect on and illustrate some of the process of dealing with life by leaning into the intersection of technology and community. |
[image description: Screenshot of a Facebook status that reads: "Your grief is real. It's the way it is, and that's ok. You're doing it right. It's yours." Three comments read: 1) "Love you, Anna!", 2) "Always everyone grieves in their own way and time," and 3) "Thanks Anna Hirsch, YES, feeling the grief but yes knowing it's just as it is as and yes I'm ok with carrying it around." Anna responds to the final comment with a series of heart emoticons, one of which is broken."]
#MindfulHearts retrospective.
On this day 2020.
On this day 2019.
Celebrating two years of daily cartoons.
On this day 2020.
On this day 2019.
Celebrating two years of daily cartoons.