After each performance of Pieces Of Us, I make myself available to chat with people about the show but also about the nature of grief.

One thing I keep noticing is that people often dismiss their own grief if it is not grief from bereavement.

And to everyone, I say: grief is not limited to bereavement. Your grief is valid, WHATEVER it is.

If you have a friend or a loved one experiencing illness that will change the rest of their lives, if you interview for your dream job and don’t get it, if your parents have sold your childhood home, if your relationship ends, if a natural disaster destroyed the buildings & infrastructure of your community, if you survived a crime that made you feel unsafe, if you graduate from school and move away from your friends for the next stage in your life, all of these things come with grief because they come with change.

The question this show asks is when does grief become a grievance? When the grief you experience is the result of something that is unjust? When the same grief is experienced collectively by a community? This question is what makes this show a socio-political show.

Don’t dismiss or discount your grief if it doesn’t pertain to bereavement. It matters. You matter.