NOVEMBER 14
Even in the dark you have the power to whistle.
—FREDERICK BUECHNERIt seems a simple thing—to muster the will and energy to
whistle.
But one of the major components of grief is that it’s hard
to lift one’s voice—or whistle—in song. It’s also hard to do
anything that requires us to take the initiative. We tend to
be reactive, not to initiate. To claim our power at all is a
victory, and to do something associated with a carefree state
of mind—like whistling—is a major victory. It may signify
a great change in the range of moods we’re willing to exper-
ience. We are ready to give up the image of ourselves as the
dolorous and wounded and, for this moment anyway, rejoin
the active stream of human life.
So if we’re able to whistle—or do anything that seems to
distance us from our consuming burden of grief—it’s not
only a song, it’s a milestone. We’re on the move, laying down
our encompassing cloak of I Am the Wounded One, and
moving out. It’s a triumph. It’s something to whistle about!
Bit by bit, I am walking out of the dark.