While the term grieving is often used to describe the loss of a human being, grief has no boundaries on the type of loss experienced. It is important that when a person experiences a loss, he or she understands that grief will follow. This can range from living things, to vehicles, limbs, homes, relationships, favorite sunglasses, and other things. Grief is not an impossible process, it just needs to be navigated with freedom to feel any and all feels. Finding healthy and positive ways to deal with grief is often difficult, yet essential. No matter how silly or serious the loss may seem, grieving is necessary.
Recently, Isak Hearstone, Breckenridge Troll was decapitated over a town feud with a few not liking the issues he created. While we are grateful to rather be grieving and mourning the piece of art to a human, it doesn’t mean that there is not still a grieving process that needs to take place. Grief–the loss of something you value– is not a process any want to face, but the reality is we are likely to experience grief in a variety of forms throughout life.
Grief comes in many different forms, and often presents in unique fashions. Grief is like a flowing river that sometimes flows smoothly around the rocks in the way. Then it can be like a flash flood coming out of nowhere. Like a drought seemingly dried up and gone. Then something happens and the river flows again, ever changing!
Today a group of virtual strangers gathered to share in grief, most would look at this as odd. A group of strangers grieving a troll? The group gathered to grieve the loss of a beautiful piece of art for reasons many are trying to grip was torn down. This piece of art was a giant troll made of tossed aside wood and other garbage. He was gentle and calming. Many enjoyed just hiking to visit Isak the Troll, and that is gone now. Death is permanent for living things. Art may be recreated but, will never quite be the same. So grief, and other death words we don’t like to use or think about are important.
Grief, we all do it, we will all experience it on some level. As a professor of Death and Dying, Isak symbolizes so much for so many. Maybe part of his purpose, and existence is to get a group of strangers to discuss grief and loss, positivity and random things that bind us like Isak. A reminder we are all fragile. Having even a community of strangers can allow us to share our feelings.
***This article was written by Stacy Smith, LPC. and Drew Mikita, LPC.***
