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Hello to Everyone,

I recently read some beautiful passages from a book entitled “Writing To Heal The Soul” by Susan Zimmermann. I would like to share these few paragraphs with you. For some reason these few paragraphs that I read seem strangely to address some of the problems we all face on our common journey of grief – and I wanted to share them with you. I hope that you find some comfort and guidance in what this writer has provided. She writes:

“Mother earths cycles surround us, providing lessons and proof of the flux and change that is nature’s way. Death provides the mulch and nutrients for birth and growth. Without the frost of winter there would be no buds of spring. Without the black of night, there would be no light of dawn. When our hearts are frozen with sorrow, we think that the warmth of spring will never come, but as surely as the sun, new growth will flower within us. The regenerative force is something that rests in our hearts. Our challenge is to access it.”

“There is a paradox that sometimes we laugh so hard we cry. It is also possible to cry so hard we laugh. As great humorists know, there is a fine line between comedy and tragedy. It is the intense life experiences – both joyful and wretched – that move us the most. In ‘The Prophet’, Kahil Gibran writes about this enigma. He says ‘Your joy is your sorrow unmasked’. And the selfsame well from which your laughter rises was oftentimes filled with your tears…When you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find it is only that which has given you great sorrow that is giving you joy. When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight’. There are certain things in life that cannot be separated. As much as we would like to shield ourselves from suffering and expand our ability to experience joy, the fact is that heartache leads to joy and joy to heartache.”

“ Part of our healing comes from a realization of interconnectedness. In acknowledging our grief, we must understand that we have lost something precious, we have suffered a death – a literal death of our dreams and expectations – but there is new life around us all the time in the natural world. There is a growing and changing and dying that is constant. It is the nature of nature. It is the nature of life. It is dangerous to get too removed from nature’s voice, a voice that can be benign as well as ruthless, full of beauty or destruction. It teaches us that while we have control over some things, others are beyond our reach.”

“Healing is embracing what is most feared; healing is opening what has been closed, softening what has hardened, healing is learning to trust again.”

“Perhaps life is a journey toward acceptance, toward the belief that everything that happens to us happens for a reason. The hardships and upheavals, the losses and heartaches have a purpose in the small or grand scheme of things. Either we conclude that there is order and purpose in the universe, or we concede that all is a meaningless accident. We must choose which of these outlooks will guide our lives. This may be the most important decision we ever make. It is difficult to learn to trust life, especially when life seems to play tricks on us. In the midst of a messy divorce, chronic illness, career setbacks, or despair over a child, it is nearly impossible to see the good in the situation. But our life challenges and losses are opportunities for us to appreciate and love differently, to drink in the smallest details of life, to celebrate what we have as we mourn what we’ve lost. This is part of letting go and accepting the outcome, whatever it might be. This is part of moving from hope which can mask reality, to trust, which acknowledges the bold, sometimes bitter, facts and says yes to life.”

Hope these paragraphs are as meaningful to you as they were to me.

Love and Peace,

John - Dusky is my handle on here

Love you Jack.

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John,

Thank you for sharing this with us, it is so true and we must try as hard as it may be to understand the meaning of life and death. I think our sorrow takes over and the real meaning of life is lost in the pain. I know just hanging on to the wonderful memories I have has kept me afloat.

Yes, healing is a way of trusting again. Trusting that your life does go on and maybe in some small way their death did have a purpose. I try to look for that purpose every day and sometimes in small ways I do see it.

Thank you again for sharing

Grace

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