I read somewhere that a large number of Nobel Prize winners become depressed after receiving their honor because their sense of purpose has been taken away. They have to grieve their pre-Nobel Prize life and find a new way of being, something to get excited about that will get you out of bed in the morning.
The same is true, to some extent, when you graduate. With Commencement often comes an emptiness, a sense of loss. Much joy and relief, yes. But also a “what the hell do I do now?” response.
For highly sensitive persons like myself, every kind of life transition — be it graduation, a new job, a baby — comes with a few challenges and their offspring. How to gracefully maneuver between point A and point B? Like you would with any other mourning process. Because you are, in essence, grieving a kind of life-style. Even though there is no funeral involved, it’s helpful to process the stages of grief.
Here are the five steps.
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Thanks for this. Your paragraph on anger just gave me a push to continue on with my own rage I’m belatedly feeling towards some big things. It cannot be suppressed any longer. A two year time span seems reasonable enough to hash it out and let it all go…
In her article Giving Life to Carl Rogers Theory of Creativity, artist and psychotherapist Natalie Rogers, Ph.D. (daughter of Carl Rogers) writes about dealing with some of these strong, even disruptive feelings:
“Fear and grief are often more easily expressed in paintings or movement than in words. Rage can be splashed on large sheets of paper until some of the energy has been released and transformed.
“Such authentic self-expression if experienced in a compassionate, therapeutic environment helps the individual to release energy, gain insight, and take responsibility for his/her feelings and move toward constructive action.’
http://talentdevelop.com/articles/GLTCRTOC.html
Man I so understand , I came to see my famy in australiA after twenty years absence and whilst trying to get my visa here to see the. When I wanted to
My partner got fed up and angry with me I understand that but love her , this life change is so hard And I can’t cope without her what do I do .
Transitions are particularly hard for me because of my ADHD,so thanks for giving me a process to help me deal with them. Recently I’ve been going through some serious anxiety because a lot of my best friends are seniors and will be graduating soon, not to mention anticipating the stress that my own departure two years down the line will bring, so I really appreciate this article. I’m going to try and focus on this for the next few weeks; might even print it out and carry it with me for when I start feeling particularly worried or unhappy.
Good job on the article!
Wow!
Thank’s soo much for this article! I graduated from highschool two years ago and my sister graduated the other night. the whole time I just got sentimental and depressed and this sort of helped me out. Highschool was alot of fun for me and I loved every minute of it. Graduation was just the door, between me and all those good times, closing. But this is helping me cope.
Great article!
RomanJames