In the Wake of This Mourning

Scott Cowart

There are many milestones in life that we look forward to experiencing. Death, however, is not one of them. Death and the process of dying is a universal experience impossible to avoid, yet most of us spend our lives trying to do just that. If society can remove the stigma and fear of talking openly about death, we can use this unique life experience as a catalyst to facilitate our own growth and development. Through the experience of loss, whether that be from losing someone close to us, or from coming to terms with our own mortality, we can gain context and meaning within our own lives. Understanding the grieving one goes through during and after experiencing loss, is a key component in mitigating the fear and stigma surrounding the process of death.

Psychiatrist Elisabeth Kübler-Ross and others who have done extensive research on the subject have identified the stages of grief people go through when experiencing loss as shock and disbelief, denial, bargaining, guilt and anger, depression, acceptance and hope, and finding meaning. These stages may occur in any order and are not bound to a given amount of time. This is an important realization because everyone experiences grief differently. [1]

Having recently lost my mother, I have firsthand experience with the process of grief. One of the ways in which I am coping with and finding meaning in my own loss is through the creation of In the Wake of This Mourning. My mother, Loxie Richardson, was an artist and an art teacher for over forty years. After she passed, I discovered an illustration book she created using her own fingerprints to elucidate her experience of surviving surgery. The illustrative and narrative style of her book serves as the inspiration for my project. I view In the Wake of This Mourning as a collaboration between the two of us and a tribute to the artist, teacher, friend, woman, and mother who continues to have a profound impact on my life.

[1] Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, Death, the Final Stage of Growth. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1974.