Wearing Cremation Jewellery
How do you feel wearing cremation jewellery? Everyone deals with loss and grief in their own way. If cremation jewellery brings comfort and peace, then why not go with it.
In doing a little research, I bumped into Casey who shared her story after her father had passed away. Casey’s experience is a good illustration. When my father died, he didn’t have any heirloom necklaces or rings to pass on. Believe it or not, I got the idea for a cremation necklace from a TV show. I thought a necklace for ashes that I could wear every day would be a cool way to remember him. I don’t tell a lot of people about this because it is a touchy subject, but to me, it’s comforting. Casey realises that some might find it odd, so opts for discretion, while finding personal meaning wearing the pendant.
Pet owners are often drawn to pet memorial jewellery, which seems less burdened with dogma (no pun intended). It brings a comforting, even playful, presence to the wearer, and people are generally more accepting of it.
In TED talk, Beyond Closure: The Space Between Joy and Grief, Nancy Berns, Ph.D., posits that closure is a fabricated concept. We don’t need closure to heal. Furthermore, closure actually distorts grieving.
As humans, we have the capacity to carry joy and grief at the same time. So what would happen if, rather than telling people to put a lid on their pain, we open the box and listen to people’s stories, says Dr Berns.
We don’t aim to leave grief behind by finding closure instead, we lend a hand in learning to live and move forward with grief. In a poignant example, Dr Berns says that in photography and art, it is the shadows that give depth and meaning. Thus, it is light and shadows, joy and grief, that entwine to enrich the dimensions or our humanity.
So, all in all, it does go down to personal choice. For most, cremation jewellery keeps a connection between their loved ones and keeps memories alive with also wearing a beautiful piece of jewellery.