The Queen has died: Making sense of major historic moments

Seventy years is a long time to be in one job.

Especially if that job happens to be the constitutional monarch of the United Kingdom.

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II died yesterday (September 8, 2022) at the age of 96 as the UK's longest-serving monarch.

We are witnessing a major shift in history.

So it is time to pay attention.

With historic events like this, there's a tremendous pause where we exist in limbo as one chapter ends and another begins.

We are living on a page turn and much is unknown.

And today is the beginning of a new reality.

Newspapers will change their masthead and have sombre front pages.

The great and good will pay tribute to the Queen.

There will be a funeral, bank holiday and community events.

Prime Minister Liz Truss has just taken charge of the country and the backdrop of national grief will inevitably impact the tone and manner of her first months in Downing Street.  

But these predictable results will unfold in a broader context.

And taking stock of the bigger picture is important in times like these, even if the historic events feel far removed from our own reality, because looking back to the past helps us understand where we are in the present.

Our sense of self is tied to the experiences we have lived.

And we connect our stories to people, places or moments in time.

Memories need these anchors.

So when we think of other major historic moments like the death of Princess Diana or the terrorist attack in New York on 9/11, we often discuss them in terms of where we were, who we were with and what was going on in our life at the time.

In the coming days and weeks, a new chapter will begin.

Sure, for most of us the rhythm of life might return to how it was before Queen Elizabeth II died.

But if we open our eyes and ears to pay attention, actively trying to make sense of major historical moments, we not only give our future selves a clearer understanding of our own stories and who we are but also a means of connecting with others who did the same.

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