I spend inordinate amounts of time on a computer. I use a computer all day at work, and yet I often check my email and Facebook within an hour of getting back to my apartment. In many ways, my life revolves around technology. It allows me to connect with my family and friends, none of whom live within 60 miles of where I currently reside. However, after a recent loss in my family, I have had a hard time using various technologies (mostly the telephone) to communicate. Writing and reading are important parts of processing grief. Having an object to hang onto--in every sense of the word-- can make a real difference for some people when dealing with such intense emotions.
Something that I was not aware of, but have just learned about, is mourning stationary. In the past two months, I have yearned for the Victorian era and its rigid code of mourning. To have such ritual to help one process grief seems so much easier. A part of this was mourning stationary. Instead of explaining this, I'll ask you to hop over to Felt & Wire and read about it there.
I wholeheartedly agree that such tangible expressions of grief and mourning are helpful. At such dark times in ones life, it helps to have any help in conveying your emotions and I think stationary can do that. Despite all the technology in my life, all the options I have for communicating, I am finding that the written word, on a solid, thick piece of paper covered in dark ink from a fine pen, is the best way to truly express myself.
So, send letters. I promise to write back.
photo source
PS. My family did receive those pre-pressed thank you cards from the funeral home. They were a blessing, as it alleviated the stress of what to write. They are rather impersonal, but they do the job. And I still have, and always will, each sympathy card I received--Hallmark or personal. They are each a small token of love and support. Thank you, all of you. See, tangible things matter.
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