Feb 2, 2023
When I noticed that a podcast release day fell on Groundhog Day
and it would be on a day when I would be recording with Gwen, I
knew what the topic had to be. To me, grief feels a lot like the
movie, Groundhog Day which was released 30 years ago. In the movie,
Bill Murray gets trapped in a time loop where he needs to relive
Groundhog Day each day with the same events happening over and
over. Grief often feels that way. We feel like each day is exactly
the same. Other people move on, but we are stuck in a continuous
time loop.
In the early parts of the movie, the main character, Phil, gets
more and more frustrated with his day repeating again and again. He
becomes first confused, then angry, and at times, even despondent.
That feels so much like grief. We cycle through all of these
emotions but keep having to live the same nightmare day after
day.
By the end of the movie Groundhog Day, Phil eventually learns to
make each day a little bit better than the last one. His heart ever
so slowly begins to change and heal. This is what we can hope for
in our own grief journeys. Although each day feels the same, ever
so slowly, we can and do change. Through lots of hard work, we very
can begin to see positive changes return to our lives and those
around us.