Websters dictionary defines grief as

GRIEF ,noun [Latin gravis.]

The pain of mind produced by loss, misfortune, injury or evils of any kind; sorrow; regret. We experience grief when we lose a friend, when we incur loss, when we consider ourselves injured, and by sympathy, we feel grief at the misfortunes of others.

I mean, that pretty much sums it up? Right?

There are thousands of books, research papers, articles, websites, blogs, seminars, courses, you name it, all about grief

What is grief, what types of grief there are, symptoms of grief, ways to cope with grief, how to support those in grief- it seems like the topic has been fully explored and there’s nothing left to know about grief, it’s all been discovered

It’s nice and easy when everything can fit everything into a box, or an algorithm, and the knowledge you seek is readily available at your fingertips

But grief is not a definition, it’s everything but nothing at the same time

Yes there are shared experiences and consistent facts, but to know grief one must experience it, not just read about it

Grief cannot be defined, how one copes is unknown until it happens, and each period of grief someone experiences may be completely different

There’s no magic or universal timeline

No way to define coping or process

No set guarantees

No certain methods on how to support those in grief

Forget what you’ve read, forget what’s defined

Grief is an ever changing mysterious enigma