Cultivating Courage Amid a Christmas Crisis
Lessons for the Road Ahead
Dear Friends,
I am not going to lie but this Christmas was one of the most challenging, mentally, and emotionally exhausting on record for me. Over two weeks ago, my mother passed on unexpectedly after dealing with complicated health conditions.
More than anything, it seemed extremely hard to foster a “Christmas” or “holiday spirit” particularly during this year.
In other words, I experienced a crisis of sorts — the withdrawal of a parent and embarking upon a journey of unexpected grief.
As Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, M.D. explains to us, grief happens in four stages: denial, bargaining, anger, depression, and acceptance. While I am in the process of finding the right grief counselor, a crisis of trauma still makes its way to my psyche.
Sure enough, I have pleasant memories of my mother from my childhood but I also have an understanding of the trauma in our household from her marriage with my father as well as the stressful work environment she endured as a federal employee and a Black woman combating racism and sexism.
This weighed heavily upon me as a child and in my young adulthood.
