Emerging from a Grief Winter: Using Digital Stickers and Planners to Cope with Loss and Illness

related commonplace topics

• convalescence

• empathy

• grief

Sometimes, loss or illness can leave you attending to only basic needs—and in a stilted way, at that. Concerns around safety—both physical and emotional—overshadow established routines, assignments, and other social involvements. Once a reliable present is secure, you may find yourself in a persistent state outside the structure and meaning of the daily life you once held true. You may feel displaced, isolated, delayed, and unfulfilled. This complicates the desire to leave the distress and engage with the world outside one's immediate concerns, where a meaningful spring exists.

When I have prolonged disruption, I often feel stranded in uncertainty and abandon my traditional planner. Instead, I make all kinds of paper notes. Those notes clutter my desk but never help me manage my time. I miss engagements, and none of my ideas become a project. I find myself in a creative and social winter.

One day, I came across digital planners and stickers. I started to envision a way to use planning and recording in the meaning-making essential to the grief process. When I put this into practice, my days became more natural again.

At first, I thought a digital planner would mean sacrificing variety, but they are easily customizable. I browsed and found a wide range of layouts with colors and themes to suit my personal style and goals. Most digital planners come with hyperlinked tabs for sections—like months or topics—so navigation mimics a paper planner. As it turns out, I find the hyperlinks more convenient than flipping paper dividers or wrangling loose papers.

Digital planners are portable—designed for use in note-taking or annotation apps, such as GoodNotes™ and Notability®. You can use a digital stylus or keyboard to add color, fonts, and handwriting. I appreciate having this freedom without managing a bunch of pens or markers.

Digital planning includes more than just calendars, to-do lists, and habit trackers. I've discovered journaling pages and pre-made scrapbook layouts. Now, I have a space to express myself in a meaningful way. Whether I’m mourning a loss, coping with illness, or celebrating a learning triumph, I can capture my special moments in beautifully themed pages with ease. Creating a keepsake is finally something I can accomplish when fatigue and pain are a very real part of life.

By far, my favorite part of digital planning is the compatible stickers, available in the same colors and themes I’d find in a craft or office supply store. Much like traditional planning, digital stickers help standardize the tracking of habits and progress. You only need to copy and paste the stickers to use them repeatedly. I’ve experimented with rotating and layering stickers, and I am pleased by how similar it is to papercrafting. A novel difference is that you can resize them. One digital pack of stickers will last forever. Eco-friendly and cost-effective!

Unlike traditional paper planning, the digital page isn’t ruined if you make a mistake. You can reposition stickers or rewrite words without ugly tears or cross-outs. Thus, I am less overwhelmed about committing to a page.

Now, opening my planner is an Everyday activity. I am relieved to find a tool that supports my self-discovery and healing. I don’t find myself as stranded in a winter of loss and illness. As I navigate through seasons of change, I can create a lasting reflection to honor and remember in the blessed years to come.