How To Work Through Grieving For A Lost Online Friend
Almost all of us connect with people that we love online these days. Social Media is used by over 70% of the US, and is the easiest way these days to stay in contact with your loved ones. It also is a great way to meet new people. There are many of us that have "pen pals" that we may have met in a Facebook group, or shared a common interest from a tweet or post on Reddit. With these new friendships comes a lot of connecting, bonding, and relationships you would have with someone that you became friends with in your neighborhood as a child.
Unfortunately it also can mean that when one of these friends passes on to the other side, it can be just as shocking, hard, and difficult to accept. As our digital lives have continued to become a greater part of how we spend our days and how we communicate with people. Below are a few things that we wish to share and hopefully help you work through grieving at the loss of an online friend.
Don’t Just Brush It Away
It is human to feel remorse and go through the grieving process if you have lost a friend or family member no matter where you stayed connected. It's human to feel what you are feeling, and it is not something you can easily brush it off. It also isn't something you should brush off. Mourning someone you are connected to is a part of life that we all must work through.
Accept The Grief
Many have heard that there are 5 Stages to Grieving and it is important that we accept these feelings and stages that are part of working through the loss of your friend or family member. We all are going to work through the loss differently than others. It won't be the same as everyone else, but accepting those feelings is what is important.
Reach Out To Others That You Love
Keep your connections with others strong after you have lost someone close to you. It is 100% ok to talk about how you are feeling and gain support from loved ones. Reach out to them, talk to them, hug them, connect with them. To me this is what life is about. It is about making connections, and bonding with others. When you lose someone who you are close to it can actually create stronger bonds to others in your life. Take a loss as an opportunity to be stronger with others.
Create Rituals
When there is a person that you have lost in your life that are physically near you, it can be easier to accept the loss. From the funeral, to an Urn or even a Cremation Urn Necklace that keeps your loved one close to you always. When it comes to a digital relationship it can be a lot harder to actually accept it when there is nothing physical to make the loss feel as real. Creating a ritual, such as lighting a candle, praying, reading a poem, or visiting a religious location are just a few ideas that can help you. It is the action of performing an act, and accepting that there is that loss which can help you process it and work through it.
It's All Going To Be OK
I hope that you find this information valuable if you are going through a situation that involves losing someone you were close to online. It's hard to work through and you don't have to work through it all alone.
Stay connected with others and you can always connect with us here, or through our social media if you are in need of support while going through this hard time.