snippets of life in the mud (surviving my grief journey)

“thinking we should be able to have a life without any suffering is as deluded as thinking we should be able to have a left side without a right side. the same is true of thinking we have a life in which no happiness whatsoever is to be found.

the face of grief

T H E . F A C E . O F . G R I E F

i thought i was ready
but i’m not

to share more about the reality
of having now lost both parents

to start unraveling some of
grief’s sticking points

i thought i was ready
but i’m not

to connect the dots to a new life
without my solid foundation

to begin making sense out of
this overwhelming emptiness

i thought i was ready
but i’m not

not yet focused or coherent enough
to lace the pieces together
forming one cohesive creation

filling in the many spaces and gaps
emerges as my personal therapy
in the coming months

i thought i was ready
but i’m not

heading into autumn with a
surprisingly different mission
than anticipated

the task of disentangling
my grief story
 
 
 
 

for dad, for me, for you

well, it’s been more than 2 months since i wrote a blog post.
and a lot has happened in my life.

most significantly, my dad passed away.

i spoke the following words aloud on august 4th,
to an audience of about a hundred, at his celebration of life.

surprises

THE ARRIVAL #4 ended last friday, june 21. and it was truly magical.
 
 
magical yes, but certainly NOT perfect. we had a few shall-we-say surprises:

  • two days before the retreat began, my computer crashed and i lost ALL of my files!

choosing to arrive


 
 
it’s just so hard to put into words
the myriad of emotions i experience
during and immediately following my retreats

still processing all of the goodness
emanating from THE ARRIVAL #3

the revelations and the insights
the tears and the laughter
the connections and the farewells

i am so grateful to these two women
for being present with me
for allowing me in
for expanding my own limits

and for trusting and challenging
themselves as well

for exploring the possibilities

we shared five days of our lives together
and it was magical
 
 

at castello malaspina fosdinovo
 
 

pasta making lesson with chef alan at il tempo del vento b&b
 
 

after reflexology sessions with ivana at villa magnolia
 
 

the beautiful village of vernazza in cinque terre
 
 

at un’ottima annata ristorante b&b
 
 
 
 

no words

some of you may have noticed
(though i suspect most did not)
that there were no studio notes last week

i was having lots of fun
with friends visiting from the states
and sometimes that bumps responsibility

i’ve written these posts lovingly, honestly
loyally every-thursday-but-two
since september 2012

i’ve come to the conclusion (in large part
due to the very humbling experience
of moving to a foreign country

and feeling ignorant quite often)
that for perhaps the first time in my life
i have very little to say

it’s perfectly okay though
because sometimes the words simply aren’t there
this is my “no words” season

i want my posts to be valuable
possibly edifying, worth your time
and the flow just isn’t there

so i’ve decided to go to a once-a-month
blogging format for now, for awhile
at least for the summer

until i decide otherwise
always keeping in mind that
it’s good to remain flexible

i graduated with a masters degree in counseling
when my oldest son was just two (he’s 26 now)
i’ve counseled, i’ve coached, i’ve lived

and you know what i’ve discovered?

never ever too late


 
 
WHY YOU SHOULD NOT COME TO THE ARRIVAL, MY ITALIAN RETREAT

1. You’ve decided to stay stuck in a lifestyle that feels safe. Perhaps a bit boring, maybe not very satisfying, even disappointing or unfulfilling at times. And possibly not genuinely safe either, just what you’ve become accustomed to each and every day.

emergence

we all have struggles that keep us up at night,
things that prevent us from dreaming.

maybe you’re good at keeping your
personal battles hidden, as well as
the fear that might accompany them.

sometimes though, the pain festers
until it becomes quite personal.

9 of me

i shared this image as an instagram/facebook story this week (and by the way, i’m wearing a crown because i’m “queen for the month” every april ?)

so right now, in this chapter of my life, what could i accomplish if there were 9 of me?

my lacuna

LULL

verb
1.
calm or send to sleep, typically with soothing sounds or movements
synonyms: soothe, quiet, hush, lullaby

noun
2.
a temporary interval of quiet or lack of activity
synonyms: pause, respite, interval, break, hiatus, suspension, cessation, interlude, intermission, breathing space, moratorium, lacuna
 

 
there’s been a lull
in my life lately
a lack of activity
an absence of motion

a pause, a respite
an interlude
a hiatus, a lacuna
(wait – what’s a lacuna?)

after a mini-panic of
not getting things done
projects not attended to
my daily routine halted

i decided to begin anew
(the exact words from my journal)
on monday, april 1
what could be better?