A Mourner's Bill of Rights and Responsibilities

A Mourner’s Bill of Rights and Responsibilities
© 2015 Sheridan Hill

1. You have the right to be sad, and to be angry (including at the Divine), and the responsibility to not hurt yourself or others.
2. You have the right to be in shock, fear, denial, and the responsibility to move through it organically, in your own time.
3. You have the right to weep, and the responsibility to acknowledge your tears.
4. You have the right to express your grief, and the responsibility to find those who can allow you to express it.
5. You have the right to protest the injustice of your loss, and the responsibility to be a loving parent towards your body, mind, and soul.
6. You have the right to mourn all of your losses, regardless of how supposedly small, how global, how old, how invisible, or how un-nameable, and you have the responsibility to articulate your grief.
7. You have the right to be free of your pain, and the responsibility to mourn for as long as it takes.
8. You have the right to move in and out of mourning over days, months, and years, and you have the responsibility to educate others about your grief process.
9. You have the right to heal, and the responsibility to ask for what you need to transform your suffering.
10. You have the right to laugh, to be joyful, to fall in love with life again, and the responsibility to renew your capacity for love.

 Artwork above: "Dragonfly Dream" from Richard Rudd's first Gene Keys book.