My mom and my four-year-old granddaughter Tatum are having an ongoing conversation these days about the difference between needs and wants. A recent installment went like this:
Grandma: “I’m going grocery shopping, Tatum. Grandad asked me to get him some ‘wants’ not just ‘needs.’ What do you think I should buy him?”
Tatum: “Definitely cookies.”
“But what if we just want things to stay the same?”
I hear you, sister!
When things are in a constant state of flux, grief is a common and appropriate reaction. And it often shows up as frustration.
We don’t only grieve specific losses, such as the death of a loved one or the loss of a job, but change itself — its existence, its relentlessness — can elicit feelings of grief too.
Continue reading “The Grief of Change”
