Grief and Writing

Writing throughout a period of grief can be very helpful. Grief is a profound sadness that is caused by a loved one dying. Grief is a loss that provokes feelings of heartache, numbness, isolation, and many more troublesome emotions.  Grief can be a tender process. Writing is a healthy coping mechanism and can assist a person to move forward in their grief process. Writing while grieving can help the mind adjust, process, and think about emotional trauma.

Write about the bad times. My dad passed away from ALS, or Lou-Gehrig’s disease in 2006. He had been diagnosed with the disease for a few years before he died. Our family had a complicated crisis to handle, and I suffered from trauma. Currently, I am writing a memoir and I find that writing about  past trauma is healing and empowering. Crying is a part of the grieving process, and it should be for the writing process as well. Writing about traumatic experiences let’s us think critically, grow, and grieve.

Write about the good times. Grief and loss are dark parts of life, but there are so many positive parts of life, too. I was close to my dad before he passed away and I remember a lot of happy experiences. Sometimes I like to write about the simpler moments in life before the trauma happened. Losing my dad was a terrible life event; however, I do not always need to feel sad. Acceptance is a challenging part of the grieving process. Writing about positive experiences can ease our minds for a while.

Write letters. I do not often write letters to my dad, but when I do- I write to seek comfort or closure. After losing a prominent person, life still goes on. But how do we adjust to an absence of a human being? When I am in stressful situations, I wonder what my dad would’ve have done or advised me to do. I ask for support and good luck. Sometimes, I ask questions. Even though my questions are left unanswered, I do not neglect ideas about the afterlife. Maybe our deceased loved ones continue to listen to us… we don’t know. We do have a lot to say, and writing is a healthy way to express our grief.

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Megan Murphy has talked, read, thought, and written about grief for the past six years. She copes with the grief process in many different ways including listening to music, taking walks, and journal writing.