Virtual Event - Loss Overload: Counting the Costs of COVID-19

Thank you to all who attended this virtual event.  If you were not able to attend, the recording is available below.

Loss is not confined to the physical deaths of those we love.  COVID-19 has been fatal, globally resulting in far too many deaths. We honor that and acknowledge this suffering and the difficulty in grieving.  COVID-19 has also accumulated other costs, which would be easy to dismiss in light of the death toll, yet these other losses need to be counted, so they too can be grieved. 

Wright Library invites you to join India Barnes, author of the book There Are No Right Words, in an exploration of loss and ways in we may accept and cope with it.  This virtual event will be presented as an online Zoom webinar.  Please register here to attend.  If you have not used Zoom before, you will be prompted to install the Zoom client.  Additional help is available here.  

Ms. Barnes's message for those interested in joining:

"It may sound unusual to talk about grieving plans, events, and routines, perhaps even insensitive. 

The reality is if we discussed death and loss much more openly, prior to the endings expected and unanticipated, we might recognize it all has its place, we just need to make room for it. It’s not about comparing losses but addressing them. 

As a friend of death and loss, someone acquainted, sharing many experiences, I’ve learned to L.A.M.E.N.T. those things for which there is no funeral. I like many of you have been furloughed, have canceled flights, have stayed home and physically distanced from my family, and so much more. COVID-19 has certainly been a blessing in some ways as I’m sure others have reminded you. COVID-19 could have been worse in other ways also. 

Yet this does not discount the costs of COVID, the weight and toll of losses, which have been deemed insignificant in comparison, so allow me to reintroduce you to grief, teach you how to L.A.M.E.N.T. loss, and hold space with you where all things fall apart."

About the presenter:

India “DeFINEd” Barnes wears many hats, she is a poet and recently published author as well as a wife, friend, and aunt. She has held the roles of educator, working with individuals with special needs and those without, of chaplain, serving in hospice and senior community homes, and a number of others. She is a native Daytonian, a graduate of The Ohio State University earning a dual degree in Philosophy and Psychology, and soon to hold a Masters of Divinity with Pastoral Care concentration from United Theological Seminary as of May 2020. She is careful to hold space for her interpersonal titles with these more academic and professional roles as a reminder of the reason service is more than a profession but a practice as a mental health advocate for connecting compassionately and giving voice to those who are often silenced or shoved aside.