Significant Quotes

[Conbon20]

I like this one. By Nicholas Evans, from The Smoke Jumper. A poem which I can't shorten:-

If I be the first of us to die,

Let grief not blacken long your sky.

Be bold yet modest in your grieving.

There is change but not a leaving.

For just as death is part of life,

The dead live on forever in the living.

For all the gathered riches of our journey,

The moments shared, the mysteries explored,

The steady layer of intimacy stored,

The things that made us laugh or weep or sing,

The joy of sunlit snow or first unfurling of the spring,

The wordless language of look and touch,

The knowing.

Each giving and each taking,

These are not flowers that fade,

Nor trees that fall and crumble,

Nor are they stone

For even stone cannot the wind and rain withstand

And mighty mountain peaks in time reduce to sand.

What we were, we are.

What we had, we have.

A conjoined past imperishably present.

So when you walk the woods where once we walked together

And scan in vain the dappled bank beside you for my shadow,

Or pause where we always did upon the hill to gaze across the land,

And spotting something, reach by habit for my hand,

And finding none, feel sorrow start to steal upon you.

Be still.

Close your eyes.

Breathe.

Listen for my footfall in your heart.

I am not gone but merely walk within you.

What a beautiful poem. I have written poetry for many years but I find that I haven't been able to write a poem about my loss. I do take comfort in the poems I wrote about my relationship with my husband BEFORE he passed away though. I'm so happy I was able to show him those poems while he was still alive.

[mfh]

Jan, that is another keeper. I really like this as it feels so true to life...how often I have reached for his hand or started to share something small or big..and we was not there...but yes, he is within me.

Connie, I too do some poetry and I have a couple hundred of Bill's poems that I pull out and reach sometimes. I am not doing too well with writing since Bill died but every once in a while I do one I like. Don't give up. It is so early yet.

Peace

Mary

[Wifflesnook]

This is such a precious place to share things we find. They don't all resonate with us (or sometimes not at the time we receive them, but later). Pete and I have always loved poetry and shared it, and of course, like Mary's Bill, Pete wrote poetry and I have two volumes of his poems. In our situation, having experienced deep loss, we need these texts and poems to help us through, and find what we really think about life And death. I seem to spend a lot of time thinking about these things and its time well spent. I wish I could just enjoy life with Pete as I used to, but I know that isn't possible. The meeting of minds that we have here whilst it doesn't fill that chasm where Pete used to be, does really help me through my new bereft life.

I'm just going to meditate, as I do daily now. I'm not sure it is helping me, but it may be. Jan

I reread the Nicholas Evans poem only yesterday, when I sat In our summer house remembering Pete.

[kayc]

“Grief can destroy you --or focus you. You can decide a relationship was all for nothing if it had to end in death, OR you can realize that every moment of it had more meaning than you dared to recognize at the time.”
― Dean Koontz, Odd Hours




The moment I die, I will come back to you as quickly as possible.
I promise it will not take long.
Isn't it true, I am already with you in every moment?

[kayc]

I don't know what I do wrong, but when I quote something it doesn't give me the option to respond under it, I don't get the whole quote thing.

Anyway, Jan, I appreciated your posting those and that's entirely how I see it. I remember a long time ago someone writing (about "The Dance") that they wish they'd never loved because it hurt too much to lose them, well I never felt like that, not in the worst of the grief, I am extremely grateful for the love we shared and I would gladly go through all of the pain 1,000 times over just to have one minute with him. He was so worth it all. I guess I feel very fortunate that we shared passion and love and companionship and the zeal of each new day!

[feralfae]

*See post over on transformations, rather than nattering for many lines here.

fae

[mfh]

This link takes you to the site that is running the videos from the Change your Mind, Change the World. Some of the world's thinkers on health, ecology, spirituality, mental health and more joined the Dali Lama on stage here in Madison this week and these videos are just so interesting. I wish all the speakers had more time but there will be more down the road.

http://wptschedule.org/bemoretunedin/?p=5090

It takes a few seconds for the videos to come in, so just wait a bit.

[mfh]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/12/coherence-life-meaning-connected-in-the-world_n_3231984.html?ir=GPS+for+the+Soul

When I read this short piece this morning, my mind wandered to how incoherent life feels after the loss of a spouse and how attached that is to the loss of meaning most, if not all of us, feel in our lives. It is also mentioned how coherence affects our health.

[mfh]

[enna]

The picture says it better than I could.

[kayc]

Anne, that picture reminds me of many times after making cards, using different mediums, my hands have looked just like that, stained with ink or glue...

[mfh]

Anne, I love that quote and picture. I have multicolored hands often when I am into my paints...and my goal is wildly and with passion and as I settle down I can see that coming down the pike. Thank you, Mary

[mfh]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tara-brach/spiritual-wisdom_b_3320084.html

Tara Brach...A Heart that is Ready for Anything.

[Wifflesnook]

That is lovely, Mary. And I needed it right now.

[mfh]

http://wptschedule.org/bemoretunedin/?p=5090

On May 16, the Dalai Lama was here in our Overture Center in Madison, WI for a conference called "Change your Mind, Change the World". Some great minds were there envisioning a new world. The day before the conference the panelists and about 200 others were asked to put their vision of this new world into words on cards. Those words were put into a collective vision and presented early into the first of the two videos on this webpage. Each speaker, from Pulitzer Prize winners to Arianna Huffington in turn spoke of how we can change this world, of well being. Early on Richie Davidson, Director of the Center for the Investigation for Healthy Minds at the UW-Madison, explained the role of meditation and mind training. The song and Davie's explanation take place within the first 24 minutes of the first video. Warning: the Dalai Lama is difficult to understand and one must listen carefully when he speaks.

This video is uplifting and I think it is important to those of us who grieve because at some point in our process we will again feel hope and want to live in a world of love and compassion and contribute to that way of being. These videos are about a total of 3.5 hours. I have watched them twice as they are just filled with helpful information regarding a vision but also the importance of meditation to creating this for ourselves and all others.

Peaceful day

Mary

[mfh]

Posted today for Memorial weekend...relevant here.

[mfh]

You might have to click on Ctl + to enlarge this.

[enna]

I absolutely love both pictures, Mary. How true that our grief always stays with us. The visual of the circle gave me a burst of hope especially seeing the third picture and knowing that a 'new' life will emerge for us even though the grief is still always going to be within us. Thank you.

[kayc]

It's amazing what pictures can convey.

[mfh]

Transcending Loss: Understanding the lifelong impact of grief Grief will take you to places that you never imagined. Even now, it's hard to see what's ahead. So, keep your attention focused on today, in just this moment. Be in this singular moment that is filled with sorrow and love simultaneously. Know that the sorrow is because of the great love. Both are part of you.

[enna]

On FB this morning:

“When suddenly you seem to lose all you thought you had gained, do not despair. You must expect setbacks and regressions. Don't say to yourself "All is lost. I have to start all over again." This is not true. What you have gained you have gained....When you return to the the road, you return to the place where you left it, not to where you started.” ~ Henri J.M. Nouwen ~

[enna]

Once again, another FB find: I seem to find these quotes quite often. I have felt many 'turtle' days these past few weeks. And I do give myself permission to draw inward. Some people still do not understand this but I do and that is all the matters to me. Love can hurt so much sometimes.

"Some days are 'turtle days' when you just want to draw into your shell and escape from the world. Let yourself be a turtle when you can. Grief asks you to draw inward to heal so give yourself permission to be still and quiet within yourself."

[feralfae]

Dear Anne, I especially like the Turtle Days, and I am going to remember that for when I need a turtle day.

I hope you are having as many turtle days and hours as you need right now.

Much Love and

*<twinkles>*

fae

[kayc]

I think I've had turtle days for about 14 years now! I totally understand the need to withdraw...

[mfh]

http://www.soulfulliving.com/

Hay House is offering 100 hours of free webcasts by notable speakers starting June 1. Each day ten talks are available and each is available only for the 24 hours of that day. Then, of course, they hope you will buy the deal but there is NO obligation and I have no intention of buying any that I know of. I will watch some of these as my days allow. There might be someone on this list that you will enjoy listening to.