Grief...the love that persists after loss

 I have a wish.

I have a wish for you.

I wish I could take from you

Your grief.

And carry it down to the river

And gently dip it in the cool water.

And you could have 

The whole day off. 

Grief reflects our connection to the energy of  the cold, clear water that snakes through the underground caves in the earth. It is truly a deep dive in to the river of all souls. Grief is much deeper than sadness. It is a connection with the collective consciousness of loss. You stand with all of the losses of all humans in all time and space.  The place where we all live together with our impermanence. 

Grief enables you to survive losses by immersing you in the deep river that flows underneath all life.  It is a natural and deeply meaningful process. When we sink down into the waters of grief, we will feel the pain of loss, but we also discover our sacred position in the dance of all souls. Grief will grab hold of you and plunge you in the river.

Like sadness, there is a heaviness. The weight will help us to stay grounded and encourage us not to run away. If you leave your body behind, you'll lose your ability to grieve masterfully. It is this heaviness that anchors you and presses you into your body. Grief is a downward movement. 

Your body is a brilliant mourner. The body  has a visceral understanding of death and loss. Our arms miss. Our hands miss. Our legs miss. Our face misses. It is visceral. Our bodies know what has been lost. Our hearts know what has been lost. Initially, part of your body and part of your heart is gone. If your grief is not quite finished, you'll know by the wrenching physical connection that still remains. The downward movement of grief can take all your energy. 

We live in a grief impaired culture. We turn away from the manifestations of deep sadness. We are not connected with our bodies. We do not want to feel anything deeply. Most people cannot get near enough to their bodies to experience grief. We are lost in our logical and linguistic mind. It is not the nature of the logical mind to dive down underneath life the way the body and emotions can. The intellect does not know how to dive deep. Your intellect only rationalizes and explains. The intellect will have us out of the water and dried off before we are actually submerged.

 Over time, one loss stacks up on top of the last one. We move further and further away from ourselves. 

Look to your heart. You will feel pain. But the pain will not crush you. Your heart will break open but not apart. Your heart will not be emptied; it will be expanded. You will have more capacity to love and more room to breath. 

Breath deeply and relax your body. Grief can then begin its journey through your body and into the ground, where it will nourish all souls. 

Nx