The Important Lesson On Grief We Can Learn From An Unexpected Passing
After the passing of Chadwick Boseman, the cast and crew of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever did more than make a film. They made a cinematic grief offering for us all, one that teaches us how we move forward even when it seems impossible.
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When director Ryan Coogler learned the great Chadwick Boseman had died he was grief stricken. He almost walked away from filmmaking entirely.
But spirit spoke to him.
Spirit, and Boseman’s vast legacy, told Coogler to make the masterpiece that is Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. The film did what Boseman did throughout his life: shine light on others.
It was a cinematic grief ritual that invited us to mourn while also figuring out how to move forward. This is a valuable life lesson.
In life we’re always faced with endings. Deaths, breakups, retiring, moving, canceled plans, dead ends, or hitting rock bottom. Grieving tests us because it demands vulnerability.
Endings require courage, especially when walking away from what no longer serves us. You’re allowed to mourn something ending, but this doesn't mean you yourself end.
It means you have the opportunity to begin again, and you can start over as many times as needed. We’re not defined by how many times we fall, but by how many times we get back up.
Many of our ancestors weren’t allowed to grieve, so practicing grief heals them as well as us.
When someone passes we must feel it and then move forward. The best way to honor their legacy is by continuing to use their light to help others shine.
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