Let’s talk about how we are mourning and what it means to us all. On 8th September 2022, it was announced that Queen Elizabeth II passed away at 96 years old. No matter who or where you are, we can feel the world mourning.
Many are questioning what exactly we are mourning. She wasn’t a relative, she wasn’t a loved one, so what exactly are we feeling during this time?
The question has been asked, is it still mourning if you don’t know them personally? The answer simply is that mourning doesn’t just come down to the person and your relationship with them. You can also mourn a social construct, you can mourn past experiences or mourn for fear of the future.
But let’s highlight what I believe the mourning of our longest reigning monarch means for a lot of people:
Queen Elizabeth II represented dedication and strength
As I said, she served as the longest reigning monarch in history. Generations have celebrated multiple jubilees and and she has dedicated her life to a role she inherently fell into.
The strength she exhibited was felt for everyone and that can’t be overlooked. When you, your parents, grandparents and great-grandparents live to see someone dedicate that much of their life to something, it is difficult to comprehend what that can feel like when it comes to an end.
What I say in response to this is to look inward at where you find your strength and dedication. What makes you want to keep moving forward and how can you start that from today?
We have lost a stable presence for several generations
Along with her dedication, we know that the Queen was the one constant thing unchanged in our lives. When life is so unpredictable, eventful and often heartbreaking, it’s easy to overlook the things that are so constant in our lives.
She was always there, we were seeing her face everyday. And that sudden change takes time to grasp.
As things start to change around us, if you feel that unease of instability, ask yourself what is it that scares you? Change can feel scary but it’s always important to also look for positive change in your life.
The power of familiarity
Even though we do not personally know her, we know her face and her mannerisms and her history. She is familiar to all of us. Losing any kind of familiarity in your life can feel like a jolt.
Whilst it didn’t feel like she personally affected our lives, she was still someone that we knew well enough to notice when she was gone.
That alone is something worth mourning.
What is important to remember during this time is that however you have processed the news, how you are feeling can be a strong indicator of how you relate to not only the loss of someone stable and familiar to you, but also to how you can find that kind of strength and resilience within your own life.
My heart goes out to the family of Queen Elizabeth II.
