By Elaine Lipworth, Thrive Global, April 6, 2020
Spring is the season for major milestone celebrations. Everywhere families have been looking forward to weddings, graduations, bar and bat mitzvahs, quinceañeras, and proms. But now, in this highly unusual time of social distancing, those celebrations have been postponed or canceled for good. There’s an understandable sense of grief and disappointment that so many of us are feeling. (And for some of us, that grief is coupled with financial stress. If, say, you’ve had to postpone a major event like a wedding, rescheduling can mean losing a lot of money.)
Psychologically, all these milestones and rituals are important because they are intrinsically meaningful for human beings. They are communal experiences, many of them once-in-a-lifetime events, which, like weddings and funerals, have had a place in human culture for centuries. And while virtual parties and ceremonies are taking on new meaning, the loss of IRL events can feel devastating. “These celebrations are, on a very primitive level, a celebration that we are alive,” Jennfier Ramlo, Ph.D., a Los Angeles based clinical psychologist, tells Thrive Global. “When something that we have been looking forward to just disappears, it can bring on feelings of great disappointment and sadness,” she says.
If you’ve had to miss a milestone or anticipated event, here are five ways to ease the pain.
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