Our friend group has people from six different cultural backgrounds and when we lost Maya last month, everyone wanted to honor her differently — some wanted celebration, others wanted solitude, others wanted ceremony. We ended up doing nothing together and I think we're all feeling like we failed her somehow, but also like our individual traditions aren't enough when we're grieving as a community.
More people experience this than they realize.
A multicultural community is learning that different grief rituals serve different functions, and they need to understand what these accomplish in order to create something that honors both their diversity and their shared love.
“Where Are You with Grief rituals across cultures — what they accomplish?”
If this sounds familiar, the Library can help you find the bigger picture.