Today, I'm thinking about change as I watch fall slowly take over the view outside my window. My mother died in October, so I'm afraid I can never be happy to see fall coming. Sure, it's beautiful, but it's also a season where things wither and die. That parallel is hard to overcome.
Much of the time, change is gradual, like the shifting of the seasons.
The temperature drops by degrees.
The sunsets grow earlier by the minute.
The colors shift by shades.
You barely notice it as each day passes - until one day you turn around and your children are grown, and your hair has gone grey.
Of course, those who've experienced loss know that change can also be jarring - a sudden shattering of life as you once knew it, arriving without warning or preparation. When change is gradual, you can sometimes keep your footing. But when change is sudden, it's common to feel as though the ground has disappeared beneath you.
Regardless of the circumstances, change usually brings loss, and loss always brings change. This is what we'll be discussing today.
A featured article on change, grief, and identity đź“ť
Change and it's Impact on Identity: 8 Considerations
Life is constantly changing, sometimes subtly and slowly, and sometimes on a seismic scale. As the world around us evolves, our thoughts and feelings shift. And as our thoughts and feelings change, so do the ways we relate to the world.
I think, therefore I am. I am, therefore I think.
Though we often think of 'who we are' as being fixed, our identities grow and evolve in the same way our physical selves are ever changing. We live with ourselves 24/7, so we don't always see the change because it's gradual. Though these changes can seem big when we take a step back and look at them, they usually don't strike us in the moment because they are incremental and we can easily accommodate and adjust to them.
For example, when I look at pictures of myself from 10 years ago, I may think, "wow, I was so young then!" even though I was able able to look at myself in the mirror everyday for those 10 years without hurling myself into an existential crisis about aging.
That said, sometimes, life changes are significant enough to cause drastic shifts, like becoming a parent, losing a loved one, getting sober, getting a diagnosis, and the list goes on. These changes can shatter your sense of self and create a web of loss that quickly splinters in and around you.
In the past, we've specifically outlined what identity loss is and how it relates to grief in our article I Don't Know Who I am Anymore: Grief and Loss of Identity. Today, we're going to continue exploring the topic by looking at the intersections between change, grief, and identity loss. These concepts intertwine because each can be the cause or effect of the other.
[Read the full article, where we outline 8 considerations for when you've experienced change] ⬇️
We’ve recently moved our self-paced online courses to the WYG Hub. For the most part, very little should change for participants. On our end, however, this change allows us to offer both self-paced courses and interactive programs—like our upcoming 12-week Finding Your Way—all in one place.
We believe everything should work smoothly, but since the system is still new, we want to be sure. As a thank-you for being among the first to try it out, we’re offering 20% off our self-paced courses throughout September with the code WYGRELOCATION. If you notice anything that doesn’t work as expected, please let us know. Your feedback will help us improve the experience for future students.
Regular Price: $40
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