[snickersnee11]

I've been going through grief, and silence is the most annoying thing I encountered lately. People are so afraid to talk about death and grief, they believe that if they say something about it, you'll turn into tears, but that's wrong most of the time. People just don't know how to deal with hard feelings to the extent they just do not say anything. And this is painful, since it vanishes last bits of a person from life. There's nothing wrong with death, people's reaction what makes it sad. And it's in your hands to make it meaningful and help other people with it. Do not ever be silent about death: talk, ask, listen, share a grief and never forget about it.

[trynewideas]

There's a lot that could be said about different cultural beliefs and rituals around grief that contribute to this. At least in my very white, Christian (or lapsed Christian) circles, it's treated as some private burden to bear with immediate family only, which isn't easy if you have little or no other family. But I've seen so many other cultures, even very close ones in demographics but in other countries, where rituals - wakes, jazz funerals, potluck memorials - bridge these gaps and give people meaningful tools to help connect over loss.

It's possible to adopt or create rituals, if others who are grieving are willing to participate. But it often seems like ones already in someone's culture "stick" the best.