Being present at your lost loved one’s funeral has always been a way to find closure and cope with grief for many. Knowing you are experiencing the same pain that others do allows you to receive some comfort with a sense of togetherness.
But with the recent pandemic, end-of-life preparations go beyond finding a grave and affordable cremation services. Today, to keep everyone safe, more and more funerals are being livestreamed so that you can grieve together despite the distance.
The shift to digital funerals might catch you off-guard, so here are some dos and don’ts when you attend a live-streamed funeral.
Don’t Volunteer as a Host
Perhaps you’re much more tech-savvy than many of the other attendees, and when the opportunity to do something for your lost loved one presents itself, your first instinct is to volunteer as a host. It’s commonly not advised to do this as hosting a virtual funeral requires a lot of concentration, and if you’re attending the funeral of someone very close to you, taking on this role might be a challenge.
Like everyone else, you attend funerals to grieve and mourn, which is crucial to reaching acceptance. Doing other tasks instead of processing your pain only pushes it back as you try to distract yourself from it. It’s always a better choice to find an individual who is not grieving for greater peace of mind. Many affordable cremation services can help in acquiring the perfect host for the event.
Do Prepare Ahead of Time
Even if you’re not a host or part of the people in charge of organizing the funeral, it’s still better to prepare before service begins. Just as people do in an actual funeral setting, you should arrive before service starts to respect your loved one and other guests. The same thing applies even in virtual environments, but possibly for different reasons.
If before you needed to accommodate the time it takes to get to the venue, this time, you need to prepare all your equipment, such as your cameras, mics, and the application you’ll be using for the event. You wouldn’t want audio cutting off in the middle of the service.
Don’t Keep Your Camera Off
As with any physical setting, you are fully present from start to end to grieve and remember your loved one the moment you arrive. When you attend a physical funeral, you can’t simply “turn off” amidst it all, and the same etiquette is expected online.
Keeping your camera on while seeing others and interacting with them gives everyone an ounce of intimacy lost from physical funerals. It also helps you avoid temptation from doing various tasks while service carries on. Remember that the purpose of attending a virtual funeral is to be fully present, even when you’re not there.
Do Dress Accordingly
It’s always better to treat online events as if they’re happening right before your eyes, and the first thing many ask before attending an event is what to wear. Joining a virtual funeral shouldn’t be an exception.
Dress accordingly, even if it’s not the best item of clothing that you would have worn. What matters is that you’ve dressed up appropriately as a sign of respect to your loved one and all the other guests present.
Final Thoughts
Virtual funerals and grieving with others while you’re miles away will take some getting used to. Suffering alone, without the benefit of a hug or a comforting pat, is a challenge for many. But what matters the most is being present for your loved one in the best way you can.
When making end-of-life preparations, there are many things to juggle, and finding the right funeral service in Jacksonville, Florida, can make things easier. Evergreen Cemetery offers assistance for the departed, including cremations, on-the-ground funerals, pre-planning, and more in the hopes of making grief hassle-free. Contact us today to plan your loved one’s funeral for your peace of mind.
