I think we can all agree that 2016 has been a very challenging year for everyone, not least because of all the bereavement that the world has had to experience together. I turned on the radio this morning to hear a phone-in session where people remember their favourite songs by artists that have died this year, and what memories those songs invoke. I had to turn it off when they started playing Last Christmas by George Michael, it was too sad!
Now, I never considered myself the type of person to feel such a close connection to a celebrity figure, but apparently I did, because I was shocked and upset by the deaths of David Bowie and George Michael. I grew up listening to their music, watching them on TV, and their songs mostly invoke memories of a very happy, safe and sheltered childhood. Oh, how the world has changed.
The death of our celebrity figureheads within such a short space of time is a very clear message from the universe, and I am fully aware of the fact. This is the year of endings. It marks the end of an era in so many ways, and we must embrace this change, and look forward to new and better experiences ahead. I have done a lot of grieving this year, not just for the loss of people. I have been grieving for the loss of my family dynamic, and it has taken several years for me to accept what has happened.
My parents divorced when I was a teenager, yet I think it is only now, when I have my own children, and my own marital challenges, that I have allowed myself to process the grief that has been hiding deep within, like a dark bubble of misery that I tried so hard to ignore. I told myself to grow up, get over it, I wasn’t the only product of a broken family. At least I still have my parents. But it’s not just that. The relationships are very different between my parents, my in-laws, and my children. We are separated by distance, by illness, and by fate, it would seem. But no more grief. I have cried, I have let it all go, I accept where I am in my life.
Are you ready to let go? What are you holding on to? Let us all leave the past behind us, and move on to a happier, more enriching year. Welcome, 2017. We have been expecting you!
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One take on the apparent high number of celebrity deaths is that there are simply more celebrities – particularly ones of a certain age – than there have been before. I don’t know whether that’s true and I do think that every death is not only sad but a reminder of our own mortality – with people like Bowie, a little bit of ourselves dies too. All that aside, it is also part of Life – as you suggest, the trick is to accept where we are – and, I think, to count our blessings. On that note – have a stonkingly wonderful New Year!
And a very Happy New Year to you, too! 🎉
Definitely ready to get rid of 2016 and welcome 2017!