welcome to season 2—body

When I was early into writing widely about grief, I never forgot some wise words I heard while interviewing a Black woman psychologist who specializes in grief and trauma for one of my pieces. Her name is Dr. Ajita M. Robinson and she told me, “Grief is a full body experience.” It sounds so common sense and so simplistic that I don’t know why I didn’t connect the dots for myself. But Dr. Robinson’s words helped me to get it. Most of us tend to zero in on how grief is such an utterly emotional experience. And that it is. Mourning is inherently emotional and messy. 

But limiting grief to solely emotional expression is trite. Not when we know that our entire body roars in response to grief. From the changed appetite patterns, sleep patterns, gastrointestinal, nausea, headaches, brain fog, mental health impacts. Our bodies are loud when we are deep in grieving and to not discuss the full scope of that is to silo grief into a neat compartmentalization. And I’m sure y’all know that’s not what I endeavor to do when talking about grief in general or here in the dead zine. 

Season 2 of the dead zine is body. Simply because I wanted to go there and examine the countless ways our bodies are impacted when it comes to grief. Whether it’s the catalog of physical symptoms of grief I detailed already. Or spooky grief dreams that feel less like longing but visitations from another realm. Even things like more and more Black people opting out of traditional burials and cremation in recent years. Also: what are death doulas and how can they help Black people feel more at ease in their body when it comes to facing the inevitable death and holding the grief that is looking at that certainty? There is so much to be gleaned when we think about our body when grief is involved. And I’m excited (weird to say I’m excited?) to go there. 

A note that for the time being, to get me back in the swing of consistency, I’ll be updating the dead zine every two weeks versus weekly. Meaning you can expect the first full issue of Season 2 in two weeks on March 28. 

P.S. If you loved the food writing I did for the dead zine in Season 1, consider signing up for my workshop I’m holding next month. You’ll learn from me how to use food to explore deeper cultural connections. More details here.

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