Embodying Spirit

Loss

Posted on October 2, 2016 Updated on October 3, 2016

The act of letting go and the quality of loss go naturally with autumn, the time when trees are letting go of their leaves and many plants begin to go  dormant in their preparation for winter.  My friends have been experiencing a lot of loss this year and I have written the following as a tribute.

LOSS
Although loss occurs each and every moment, it often goes unnoticed, its effect easily woven into the tapestry that is our life.  Like tiny earthquakes, these losses imperceptibly shift the ground beneath us, quietly changing the landscape.

And then there are the big shifts, the quakes that we feel as the earth we stand upon breaks apart, forming chasms into which fall our most cherished relationships.  These are the losses that rock us and push us off balance, plunging us deep into darkness.  These shake-ups are ever-so-painful as the ties that have connected us to those beings and things we have loved so much break.

We may attempt to reclaim these bonds, however, all that remains in the spaces once occupied by our loved ones is emptiness.  We are forced to learn how to live without them. When we stay present to the tidal waves of loss and of grief, the emptiness reveals its fullness and the space becomes beloved, once again.

We find that our loved ones are still here, gentle as wisps of breath quietly entering the fresh openings of our hearts.  Our grieving makes room for them.  Every tear expands the openings in which everything and everyone we have ever loved or ever will love can rest.