The holidays are a time for jovial celebrations shared with family and friends. However, this year has been difficult for everyone who has lost a loved one due to COVID, police brutality, and any other causes of death.

Even though grief is not respective to a particular season, the holiday season can be one of the hardest times for grieving people.

After doing my research, I’ve listed the most significant ways to move forward with one’s grieving process.

1. Find a New Hobby

Since this pandemic has limited face-to-face contact, many people will have to find different methods of having fun by themselves for Christmas.

If you take the time to pick up something new, your time will be used productively and should make you feel more at ease.

The hobbies should be more long-lasting like learning a new instrument, painting, and knitting. This can create a more relieved aura into your life that will not go away.

2. Help Others

According to “The Project Patriarchy“, an organization encouraging youth within politics by offering unbiased, practical ways to solve world problems, “Many homeless people feared the outbreak of COVID-19, yet with nowhere to go, many ended up going to shelters.” This fact makes me realize how many shelters need resources like food and clothes for the holidays.

Since COVID has to be a factor for volunteering and donating, many people are just asking to send the items to their locations for less physical contact.

Helping others can channel your pain with something meaningful like a gift to others. You might also begin to build other bonds and relationships from volunteering your time every now and again.

3. Facetime and Zoom Other Loved Ones

Being by yourself in a time of need makes the grieving process worse for an individual. Usually, people will gather will each other to reminisce the times they’ve had with their lost one. However, society had to discover another way without direct contact.

The Facetime feature now allows up to 32 people to video-chat and converse with one another. If someone doesn’t have an Apple device, an app called Zoom is also available to use.

Many people just miss seeing one another and communicating their feelings, whether they’re awful or spectacular. These two apps can make that happen without the chance of the virus spreading and getting yourself sick during the break.

4. Retail Therapy

Everything is on sale, so why not literally shop until you drop?

Buying things for yourself can be such a therapeutic experience and can really take your mind off feeling depressed.

Even though one must tackle mourning in a healthy way, one must not tackle it all at once. This tip can guide you to joy and motivate you to focus on other things that are m0re goal-oriented and amusing. I bet if you dare yourself to find as many items you like on sale by a certain time, you’ll soon forget about what you were crying about earlier in the day.

5. Talk to Professionals

Few people believe that seeing and discussing your issues with a professional can benefit you in the long run, but it’s true.

Most times we need to talk to people outside of our circle to be very transparent with us on the correct steps for our different lifestyles.

Social isolation can also provide anxiety, depression, and trauma-related disorders, which is why it’ll be more effective to locate your nearest psychologist and book an appointment.

You can also start small and dial a hotline to talk to another type of person who’s qualified.

Many numbers are out there and are waiting for people to chat with. Knowing the right thing to say to your friends about your feelings can be such an overwhelming process. Reaching out for help doesn’t reveal weakness. It actually requires tremendous strength to dial and use the tools to cope with how you feel at the moment.

I hope the tips that I’ve compiled for grieving easier become very beneficial to someone out there. I hope you have a wonderful finals week to finally reach your Christmas break and relax!