NOVEMBER 24
...the astonishing or unfortunate thing is that these
deprivations bring us the cure at the same time that they
give rise to pain. Once we have accepted the fact of loss, we
understand that the loved one obstructed a whole corner of
the possible, pure now as a sky washed by rain...Free, we
seek anew, enriched by pain. And the perpetual impulse
forward always falls back again to gather new strength. The
fall is brutal, but we set out again.
—ALBERT CAMUSIt is a trade we would never willingly have made, and for
a while the “corner of the possible” is nothing but grieving.
We have no impulse toward new things.
But when some time has passed and we are able to stand
back a bit from our grief and look at our lives, we do find
some empty space where our involvement with our loved
one used to be.
What to do with that time and energy? Maybe it will be
subsumed into other things we’re already doing. Or maybe
it is time to consider something new. Perhaps in the transfer
of the energy we used to give to our relationship we can see
a living memorial to our loved one. Let’s make it something
worthwhile!
My life is entering a new chapter. What new thing shall I put into
it?