​Shout, shout, let it all out

Grief is complicated and is expressed in so many ways.

Cemetery managers argue that an inability to grieve in a 'healthy way' is not good for society's wellbeing and that there is a civic duty to provide resources and facilities to assist them - municipal cemeteries. 

"Providing meaningful options that the public want and to have a place to visit to reflect and remember the deceased all play a very important role in the grieving process."

However, what an individual or minority might want, needs to be balanced against the cost to all other members of a community, which includes harm to their environment. ​

Some people choose to express their grief in a highly visible way - the bigger and more visible the better. Because their displays 'shout' so loudly, others feel compelled to compete to show that they too grieve. Those who wish a simple grave are engulfed by visual noise and clutter, which causes them anxiety, mental stress and fatigue.

Natural burial grounds offer places of escape where nothing jars, where countryside is king, where simple, natural beauty is paramount. ​​​

​Sometimes a grieving family will visit and decorate or 'garden' a grave at a natural burial ground. It stands out a mile. If our custodians are there, they will gently approach them and explain the difficulty with this and ask them to take home their mementos and find a special place for them there. The burial ground and those at rest there should be left undisturbed.

Our 'meaningful option' is to let nature provide the wellbeing.