When grief comes to work.

A lot of organisations dance around the issue of grief or loss in the workplace.

The customary condolences are paid. The flowers are sent. I do sincerely believe most organisations are empathetic to an employee’s loss, as long as the grieving happens at home, outside office hours. When the standard three to five days are over, one is expected to return and continue as normal.

The thing is, nothing feels normal.

In the blink of an eye, your world comes crashing down. And believe me, you want nothing more than “normal” to return, the simple things, old routines, getting a coffee, having a laugh with colleagues. But it doesn’t feel like normal anymore. It feels like someone else’s life. And the pain is excruciating.

Loss is something that binds us as human beings. It affects us all differently, but it will affect all of us at some point. And there are no rules.

Grief doesn’t move in straight lines. It comes back in waves, sometimes years later, when you least expect it.

I don’t think you heal from grief. I think you learn how to live with it, how to carry it, and still find ways to stay on the sunny side of the street as much as possible.

And when you are in the throes of it, knowing that grief is inevitable doesn’t make it easier. What people are often looking for isn’t answers or fixes, but space, space to return in small ways, to familiar routines, to simple kindness, to the ordinary anchors of daily life.

Something steady to hold onto, until standing upright becomes possible again.