Sometimes, in the midst of feeling very happy, you can suddenly feel very sad. And that sadness takes you by surprise and it takes you by storm. Because feeling grateful and joyful is such a delight that the sharpness of the sadness coming through is a shock. And yet it's not something we should dismiss, but rather honor.
Being in a space in my life of feeling really lucky and content, I am also reminded of those who are not here to share it with me. My mom or my grandparents, my friends long moved away or my family far from here- all are with me in spirit to be sure - but their absence at times is brutally felt. I know what I have found is something I have hoped for and they all wished for me, but sometimes it's in the sharing that delight is also felt.
So what to do in those times of feeling that loss so acutely? The instinct is to brush it away, but the truer move is to feel it. To understand that the brilliance of happiness found is illuminated by prior loss. To acknowledge that having those not here makes you more appreciative of those who are. To be in the space of feeling sad, to not sweep it under the rug, but to experience it and have it frame your delight for the contrast, to believe that it's all part of the material of your life.
Lesson learned.
-a
Being in a space in my life of feeling really lucky and content, I am also reminded of those who are not here to share it with me. My mom or my grandparents, my friends long moved away or my family far from here- all are with me in spirit to be sure - but their absence at times is brutally felt. I know what I have found is something I have hoped for and they all wished for me, but sometimes it's in the sharing that delight is also felt.
So what to do in those times of feeling that loss so acutely? The instinct is to brush it away, but the truer move is to feel it. To understand that the brilliance of happiness found is illuminated by prior loss. To acknowledge that having those not here makes you more appreciative of those who are. To be in the space of feeling sad, to not sweep it under the rug, but to experience it and have it frame your delight for the contrast, to believe that it's all part of the material of your life.
Lesson learned.
-a
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