Life PC - Precovid and what collective grief is doing to our psyche

The other day I was telling my husband what a bummer we will miss to see our three year old graduate from pre-school this May. I brushed it off but later thought wow there is a college grad somewhere who has to keep looking at their gown and cap hanging from the closet knowing they will not walk across the podium, there is a bride who just picked up her dress from the final fitting who has had to send out cancellation cards to the wedding that was 2 years in the making. I think of the Olympian who has been training for four years to qualify for the just postpone Olympics, the cancelled family trips to Disney and having to grieve the loss of a loved one yet the closest you had to spend time with them in their final moments was through a window. The list is endless - we may not all be infected by Covid-19 but we have all been affected by her wrath. The collective sense of grief is what we are feeling as humanity; from the monarchies in Spain to the slums of Soweto. Grief and Covid are like fraternal twins - their DNA is 100% match. Grief knows no age, no color, no status, no gender. This is the sense of loss we are feeling as we grasp on to our lives PC- pre-Covid. Kubler-Ross is known worldwide as the grief guru - she classified the various stages of grief and they speak so clearly to a time such as now when we are all in different stages of managing our individual and collective losses.. In broad terms she speaks of navigating your way through Denial-Anger-Depression-Bargain and Acceptance as the final stage. I remember when the virus was still simmering in China - I had the 'NIBY - Not in my backyard" attitude. I kept telling my husband that yes whatever, its over there it is contained it is nowhere near us, all will be fine and we will have something else to distract us soon (denial). What I can say is that during this time there is a pendulum swing between different stages - the key is trying to move along the course and recognizing where you are as an individual in the continuum. Putting a name to our feelings during this time will help us manage our feelings better and ultimately get to the acceptance stage - the ultimate goal of healing in the grief process. Reaching acceptance does not happen overnight - and no one expects this to happen instantly. We just need to be a little more compassionate with each other. Everyone's resilience armor is different - some people are able to weather storms and keep paddling the boat.Others are unable to even catch a breath when the boat starts rocking as they go into full panic mode easily. So whether you are the "just keep swimming" type or the 'I cant do this type" lets all be kind to one another, bear each others burden and I promise you we will get to dry land.