"We need a day of the dead. That's a perfect celebration"
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When Kristin Hersh says, “We need a day of the dead. That’s a perfect celebration,” she’s calling attention to the human need for shared rituals that help us reflect on loss and remember those who have passed away. Many cultures fear death or push grief aside, often hiding away from the uncomfortable feelings that accompany loss. Hersh’s statement urges us to consider the importance of acknowledgment, memory, and bringing loss into the light as a community.
The Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos) is best known as a Mexican celebration blending indigenous and Catholic traditions, where people fill altars with marigolds, candles, favorite foods, and photographs of loved ones. It’s a time of joy and reverence rather than purely sadness. Family and friends gather not just to mourn, but to rejoice in the lives and spirits that shaped them. Hersh’s endorsement of such a day is a longing for a collective approach to grief, where remembering the dead isn’t gloomy or isolating but becomes transformative, even celebratory.
Modern Western societies often rush the process of grief or privatize it, treating mourning as something to “get over.” In contrast, a communal event like the Day of the Dead reframes death as part of life’s natural cycle and provides permission to cherish memories wholeheartedly. It’s perfect because it recognizes sorrow without letting it overshadow the sweetness and connection that outlive loss.
Such a celebration also helps the living reconcile with mortality. Instead of hiding from our eventual fate, we make peace with it, finding comfort in ritual, art, and togetherness. Bringing sadness and remembrance into public view, as Hersh notes, enriches our emotional lives and helps build resilience. In honoring the past, we deepen our appreciation of the present and create a space where love endures, even after those we love are gone.
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