FireSprite

I think Grief is a much longer process than most people comprehend, especially because it manifests differently in people & typically morphs through many stages/emotions. I know I've had to take a step back & reassess my understanding of what it means & what the process entails for me personally.

I'm not going to pretend that I'm any kind of expert on this topic, but I've been working through a cycle of grief over this last year and a half & it has surprised me how long & ever-changing it is.

I think what you describe is fairly normal - that something like talking to a friend who is dealing with issues similar to your own history could easily trigger the next stage of dormant grieving. Some things I've grieved recently I thought I was long-past, but in reality I'd gone as far as I could at the time & needed to let it simmer for a while before taking it to the next level of healing. My awareness had to expand to allow me to properly move onto the next stages.

Sometimes we just aren't ready until we're ready, either because we need enough more time & distance to give us better clarity or we just need the Active Crisis to pass in a way that changes the way it all looks Now.

The process of actively removing yourself from the circumstances & moving forward in life itself can be distracting from the grieving process as well. Does that make sense?... that I'm more likely to "stuff" my feelings of grief down while I'm dealing with important life changes like jobs, homes, etc? But just because that time passes it doesn't mean I'm actively healing - more like treading water to keep from drowning - I still need to circle back to working through my grief.

I'm stupid-busy these days & I know I have more to share on this topic but I wanted to at least add a few thoughts for now. I highly recommend the book "Tear Soup" - it talks in great detail about how individualized grief is & how OK that is too. And it's an all-ages, illustrated book which makes it easy to digest.

(PS - nice to "see" you around!)