Contemplating grief travel & musical tributes as a pathway to healing -
With the festive season upon us as a time of joy and celebration, I’d like to pause and acknowledge in this episode that this time of the year can be particularly difficult for those who may be grieving. The festive atmosphere and expectations of merriment can make grief feel even more acute, while the absence of a loved one can feel particularly poignant.
It was whilst researching music vigils and musical tributes and the way in which we cope with funerals here on the island, that I came across a term I hadn’t heard before: ‘grief travel’. It was described as an emerging recommendation - often suggested by grief counsellors - that simply involves travelling to a new destination as a way to process loss and trauma.
In this episode we’ll be discussing grief travel as a way to take some time out from our ‘normal everyday routines’ - routines which won’t ever be the same again, with the loss of a loved one, and yet we know we need to somehow find some way in which to live around and with this gap in our lives.
Our Norfolk Island, a remote South Pacific island, is a nurturing escape - it’s only a short flight of under 3 hours from Australia or New Zealand - and when you arrive you will not only see, but also feel the serene beauty and tranquil atmosphere that is here naturally on the island. The island in its natural state can provide solace and a place to explore gentle healing after your experience of loss.
Our Norfolk tradition of ‘saying goodbye’ to a loved one, is the way in which we find our way through grief and loss. Within our small community, we support one another with a deep understanding, often of common ground and experience and without the need for words, but as expressed through our actions.
In the event of a death in our small community, we all know what we can to do to help. We share in compassion and love for the grieving family and friends with a wordless hug, a phone call or a visit to deliver flowers or a homemade meal.
Our funeral process is a special island tradition.
Musical tributes at the funeral is one part of the service which brings much comfort to the family and community gathering as we can join in with the singing or just allow ourselves to be sonically submerged in the beautiful recordings as they echo throughout our cemetery beside the sea. Our musical tributes for family members can include old recordings of favourite hymns or songs of an era, or a live tribute of singers with ukulele’s and guitars accompanying the funeral service.
Some of our musical tributes include this one, as composed and sung by the late Eileen Snell in the Norf’k language.
And now, it’s that time of the year again, that Christmas is upon us, it can be such a tough time to get through, when you're grieving.
Allow yourself the space to process your feelings, to cherish the memories you shared with your loved one, and if this means finding a destination in which to escape to, for a little while, Norfolk Island is a very special place, naturally. It just ‘is as it is’.
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email: res@baunti.nlk.nf
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