Everywhere you look, the signs are there: The holidays are here. Turkeys, holly berries, lights, and snowmen are showing up in every store – and on some front lawns – as we roll into the season of joy.
At least, it’s supposed to be a season of joy, or so we are told.
Sadly, the holidays can be anything but joyful for a substantial portion of the population. For many of us, the holidays are a mixed bag at best. We juggle managing family expectations, maintaining boundaries in the face of pressure and pushback, and strategizing holiday travel while trying not to lose ourselves in a flurry of tinsel and consumerism. It’s a lot.
And for some of us, the holidays are even harder because instead of bringing us joy, they are a sharp reminder of what we have lost.
There are many kinds of loss, each with their own brand of grief attached.
Our therapist, Amy Marlow-MaCoy, wrote a recent blog post on feeling different kinds of grief during the holiday season.