{"id":165498,"date":"2015-10-26T11:00:11","date_gmt":"2015-10-26T16:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.austincnm.com\/?p=165498"},"modified":"2015-11-02T09:14:37","modified_gmt":"2015-11-02T15:14:37","slug":"coping-with-grief-on-all-souls-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2015\/10\/coping-with-grief-on-all-souls-day\/","title":{"rendered":"Coping with Grief on All Souls Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

One week from today, on November 2, 2015, we, the Church, will celebrate All Souls Day. All Souls Day is a time to remember those who have gone before us, a time to pray for them, and to ask them to pray for us. In doing so, we recognize that we are still connected, that we are still a community. Though we are separated by the physical world, we are still united spiritually. It’s a beautiful reality, to be sure, but it can still bring back feelings of sadness and loss.<\/p>\n

So, while the rest of America is attempting to recover from sugar-comas and other Halloween revelry, some of us will be staring sadly ahead towards a day that may bring grief back to the surface.<\/p>\n

Those of us who have joined the Grief Club (as we all do at some point), may not be surprised by this, as we know at least two things to be true:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Grief is a mixed bag of opposing emotions (sadness, hope, anger, joy of remembering).<\/li>\n
  2. Grief doesn’t end, but returns in waves of various sizes, triggered for various reasons.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    There’s a handy acronym (coined by psychologist, Therese Rando<\/a>) used in the psychology world\u00a0to refer to these moments when grief crashes into us with its mixed bag-o-feelings:<\/p>\n

    STUG: Subsequent – Temporary – Upsurge of – Grief\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

    It’s a very clinical way of describing something incredibly unpleasant. I prefer to use the acronym, S.L.U.G (subsequent lousy<\/em> upsurge of grief), because I hate grief and think it’s lousy. Yes, I know that my loved ones are where they are supposed to be, that I’ll see them again, and we’re still connected, blah blah blah. But I’m still human and get angry that we’re not physically together right now.<\/p>\n

    Sigh.<\/p>\n

    In addition to anger, here are some other signs that your STUG’s have been triggered by All Souls Day:<\/p>\n