How to Tell the Difference Between Grief and Mourning
I have always been mindful of the fact that there can be no love without loss and there can be no grief without mourning. The power of love is what triggers feelings of loss and grief.
You may have noticed that people use the words “grieving” and “mourning” interchangeably. However, there is one important difference.
Think of grief as the painful thoughts, feelings, and memories that you have because of your experiences with the person you lost. In other words, grief is the internal meaning that you give to the experience of loss.
On the other hand, mourning is when you outwardly express the grief that you feel within. Another way to define mourning is “grief gone public.” There is no right or specific way to mourn, as everyone is different. Talking about the dead, crying, expressing thoughts and feelings through art or music, or celebrating important anniversaries of the deceased are just a few examples of the different ways we mourn.
Not only grieving, but also the decision to truly mourn gives us courage and confidence to live well after the death of a loved one.
How we can heal grief
To “live well” and “heal grief,” one must “mourn well.”
