We try to quantify loss, starting from the numbers on the scale to talking about the stages of grief, and counting how many loved ones have passed away. How do we measure absence without reducing its value?

The feeling of missing something or someone comes from tangible memories, thoughts, and experiences. What if we can get back what we lost? We attempt at filling space through and through, with memorials, tokens, and possibilities. For example, how the afterlife substitutes the emptiness of death in certain beliefs. Or how values and meaning subtract from existential weariness.

Every person has experienced one loss or the other, differing in meaning and implications. The more we age, the more losses we accumulate. Does the continuation of life signify the presence of loss? We have all heard that time heals all wounds, but what does moving on signify? Remembrance defies time moving forward, but how dependable can our recollections be?

Other times, loss no longer is about the loss of another but becomes the loss of oneself. Self-growth or redemption can ask of us to toss away bad habits or shed our skin. That might imply a positive sense of change because of renewal or replacement. Does something new have to arise for us to reconcile with loss? 

The port explosion of August 4, 2020 has left us with many questions and contemplations. We invite you to explore loss in its complexity, and anguish, as well as grief and the relief that follows. Take this, make it yours, write your own stories and thoughts. We offer you our nonjudgmental, unfiltered hub.