The holiday season can be extremely stressful for those grieving the loss of a loved one.  In our culture there is unnecessary pressure upon all of us all to make the holidays perfect.  Of course, that perfect, idealized holiday season seen in Norman Rockwell paintings, holiday movies and in Hallmark greeting cards isn’t likely to happen.  Whenever people are involved, things aren’t going to absolutely perfect.  No matter how hard people try to be perfect, they just aren’t.

Mourners are already stressed in their grief journey.  They don’t need to give into the pressure to “do the holidays” perfectly…especially if some of the traditional ways of honoring the holidays has become terribly painful for them to do while in their grief.

Here are two major cultural lies about holiday grief that mourners need to avoid:

• Don’t grieve openly during the holidays. You’ll ruin the holidays for yourself and others. Grief…