St. Croix Hospice: Humor Softens Grief

Hi, everyone. I am so excited to be here. A part of today's livestream. So today we're going to kind of dive a little bit more into a topic that often seems more taboo. Right. Specifically, I want to kind of explore the more of that topic about how humor can play a vital role in our grieving process. So I really wanted to kind of just talk a little bit more about that. So I'm super excited to be here today and share more about how grief has such a personal and complex journey and how it can feel very overwhelming.

And it often brings up a mix of emotions. Right? We have sadness, anger, confusion. And society often teaches us that we need to suppress our emotions, especially in the time of loss. So today, I really want to challenge that notion, because what if I told you that laughter could actually be a part of our journey? I believe that humor can coexist with grief and help us cope. It's not about making light of our pain. It's more about finding those moments of relief, connection, all that amidst the heaviness that we experience in grief.

So now, you know, why is humor so important in grief? You know? Well, it allows us to remember our loved ones. It allows us to remember them, you know, in a different light. It can break the ice in conversations that can feel very heavy, creating a space for connection. Laughter. Laughter can also be that reminder that life goes on right when we are facing heartache or, you know, that sadness. It shows us that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Humor can be a very, very powerful tool. And it's okay to laugh, even when we're, you know, when we're grieving.

And, in fact, it's definitely a healing aspect of our grief. So, for instance, I have found that when we share, you know, funny stories about loved ones, it can evoke this very large emotion of joy in us. And when we think about those fond memories, it helps us celebrate those lives instead of only mourning their absence. Right. Because that's when we're looking at grief, we're focusing on them no longer being here. So if we can evoke that joy and those memories of our loved ones, that's the most important piece.

So I remember when I was going through my own personal loss, as I have shared in a previous live, there's moments of, you know, reminiscing when we're sitting with our family members. We're sharing stories, right? We sit back and we're crying and we're thinking about those stories. But I had a personal experience where my younger brother came around the corner, and he instantly just said a joke that was the exact same tone, the exact same way that my older brother would have entered a room and made that joke.

We all just busted out laughing, so we immediately stopped crying and then thought about those fun memories when that individual or my loved one came into the room, right? We started to build on that laughter and that memory and began to share, you know, those fun stories. So it almost felt surreal to laugh. But in that moment, it reminded me of the love that we share and the joy that he has brought into my life. So in those moments of laughter, sometimes we kind of look back and can provide that brief respite from pain and help us feel connected to our loved ones.

So some ways that others can kind of find humor and grief, we can make sure that we open to incorporating humor and grief in our grieving process. So a few ways that individuals can incorporate humor can include sharing those stories. Talk about those funny memories you've had with your loved ones, about your loved ones, share them with friends, family, you know, watch comedies, right? Sometimes we're grieving and we just need to turn to our favorite comedian and have them help lighten that mood another way.

Find humor in our everyday life. If you allow yourself to see the absurdities in life, even when times are tough, these small moments are what's going to help us remind us that laughter is still possible when we're grieving. I encourage all of you to embrace those moments of laughter as part of your healing process. It's okay to lighten that mood sometimes, right? Your loved ones would probably want you to do that rather than continuing to sit in a room crying and kind of focusing on them not being here when we can hold on to those memories and those moments of laughter and continue to think about them in that positive light.

So before I wrap up for today, I wanted to let you all know that I do have a few videos on my page. I hope that you can find them, as, you know, another sort of resource to help you when you're looking at your grief journey. Some of these dive deeper into specific topics that I'm hoping to continue to go over in my live streams, but in particular, there is one where I talk about humor and grief, so feel free to check out those for more insight and support during your grief journey. And I really want to thank you all for joining me today.

And just remember, it's okay to laugh, it's okay to grieve, and it's okay to do both of those at the same time. So just take care of yourselves and I hope to see you all next time. Take care. Bye.