"Help me make peace with my holiday grief”

This time of year can be emotional under the best of circumstances, let alone when you're feeling loss or heartache. Here is how to find solace this season

- by KRISTINA MASTROCOLA

Be kind to yourself

You're not alone

When the world is celebrating the holidays while you're grieving, it can feel like “there’s an electrical current you're no longer connected to,” says expert David Kessler. As difficult as it is, this disorientation is normal. “The question I get asked most is, ‘Am I crazy?’” he says, explaining that he helped adapt Elisabeth Kübler-Ross’s stages of dying to the grief process, though they were never intended to be linear. “Grief is messy—especially at the holidays, when everything reminds you of your loss. The goal of grief is to feel more love than pain, but it doesn’t happen overnight. It's so important to show yourself grace.”

Take the pressure off