How the Pandemic Changed the Way We Grieve (and What We Can Learn From It)
We’ll be unpacking the grief from the pandemic for a long, long time.
Because here’s the truth: we were all grieving. Even if we didn’t call it that.
When COVID-19 hit, the losses piled up fast. Jobs, routines, birthdays, graduations, weddings, connection, certainty, safety—and for too many, beloved lives. Suddenly, grief wasn’t just something that happened in quiet corners of the world. It was everywhere. All at once.
And for many who had never faced grief personally, it felt… unfamiliar. Heavy. Sticky. Hard to name.
That’s grief.
Those of us who had walked with grief before recognized the signs. But for many, this was the first time they realized that grief doesn’t always show up in black clothes at a funeral. Sometimes it looks like crying over a missed milestone. Numbness when another event gets canceled. Deep fatigue from carrying so much uncertainty.
Those who lost loved ones to the virus? Their grief was an even deeper layer—often isolated and complicated by disrupted rituals, limited support, and the trauma of saying goodbye through a screen or not at all.
The pandemic cracked open a larger conversation about grief—one we desperately needed.
Because grief isn’t just about death. It’s about all kinds of loss—big, small, simple, complicated.
So what can we take from this hard-earned lesson?
Here’s what I hope we carry forward:
Grief is grief. If you’ve felt it—you know. And all grief deserves compassion and space, no matter what sparked it.
There is no “right” way to grieve. Pandemic grief looked messy because grief is messy. It always has been. Let’s keep making space for that.
Community matters. Collective grief reminded us how much we need each other. We don’t have to grieve alone—nor should we.
Let’s keep talking about grief. The pandemic taught us that grief conversations belong in workplaces, in families, in communities—not hidden away. Let’s not shut that door again.
If the pandemic taught us anything, it’s that we’re all more connected by loss than we might think. And maybe—just maybe—we can be more connected in how we support one another through it, too.