Creative Grief
Photo: Ruth Demandt of Blue Girl Designs
I am constantly in awe of the ways that grief can inspire creativity.
No, this blog is not about trying to convince you or anyone that ‘everything happens for a reason,’ or about the need to see the silver lining or a bright side of grief. It is about pausing to reflect on how, for some people, creativity can occur in grief.
I recently attended a play called Big Stuff, the creation of a comedy duo who are a real-life couple: Matt Baram and Naomi Snieckus. While the name Big Stuff does not immediately signal that it is all about grief, it is exactly that. It is an interactive show in that audience members were invited to submit an answer in writing to the question: “What do you have in your home that reminds you of someone?". The duo then collected the answers and brilliantly included them within the show. The play is both scripted and improvised. It is very hard to describe but I highly recommend seeing it if you can. I laughed, shouted, and cried – I highly recommend it! You can find more information and follow their social media at https://baramandsnieckus.com/.
And this might seem like I am getting off topic, but I knit. I knit a lot. Knitting (and all kinds of fibre arts) are other great examples of grief coming together with creativity. There are so many examples of grief showing up in the knitting community. There have been events called Weave and Grieve where people gather to share in the community of creating while grieving. And, there is growing evidence that knitting has health benefits! You can listen to a podcast about those benefits (https://www.guidetoafterlife.com/podcasts/a-guide-to-after-life/episodes/2148883911) and read a post by the interviewee, an academic who studies grief (https://creativerestoration.org/knitting-through-grief/).
By far my favorite example of grief and fibre-arts creativity is the Loose Ends project. The two co-founders are avid knitters who, upon realizing that they were often asked to finish knitting projects that were uncompleted when someone died, started the project. They started small and now have thousands of volunteers who finish all kinds of fibre arts projects. Finished projects are returned to the intended recipient or family member who was left with the unfinished project. Volunteers often specially mark the last stitch made by the person who died. You can read about them at https://looseends.org/ and follow their social media to learn more.
There are many ways that people use creativity to create meaning in the face of loss and grief. Some share it in public displays such as theatre. Some knit for themselves, and some knit as community. To be clear, I am in no way saying that if you are not being creative, you are not grieving well. I am just in awe of some of the creativity that sometimes occurs in grief.
