Self, Culture, and Synodality: Listening to Women’s Voices in the Third Space

In the last three years of COVID-19, women from all walks of life had to face sudden loss and grief. How could a community, as a journeying companion, listen to women in grief? The griever enters a space of distress, confusion, and obsessive dwelling in the past, and the “third space” constantly evolves and becomes. This study seeks to voice the importance of synodality, a way of listening and journeying with each other from the ground, particularly among women in grief. The methodology employed in this work includes qualitative phenomenological research to study the lived experiences of two women to gain deep insights into women’s experiences of grief. This research design sets aside the assumptions that women in grief are the same and focuses mainly on each woman’s unique and immediate experience. This study hopes to contribute a vision of an integrated approach to grief in a synodal spirit within the field of Psychology, Spirituality, and Ritual Studies for women of all walks of life, and of different cultures and religions.