365 Days in Aspen

5 Stages

the-five-stages-of-griefToday's topic will be the Five Stages of Grief: 1. Denial and isolation; 2. Anger; 3. Bargaining; 4. Depression; 5. Acceptance.

Elisabeth Kubler Ross's breakthrough theory is like so many great world-changing insights. It's like a "blinding flash of the obvious." Something we already knew but didn't know. We weren't able to articulate it, but when we see it, we exclaim, "Eureka! That's IT!" 

This theory is most often applied when someone is dealing with death – usually someone else's, but sometimes their own. And sometimes it's something bigger. 

The worst of course is when it's something out of our control. In that case, Anger and Bargaining are futile. Depression is depleating. So all you have is Acceptance and Denial. 

I told some friends last night that I wanted to change the name of Aspen to "Denial." So I can tell people "I live in Denial." There really is no place better (at least for me) than to live here – the Switzerland of the United States. Beautiful, liberal, loving, intelligent, well-educated and charitable. 

I just wish other people I care about could find their safe haven, too.