Paralysis and helplessness and dissociation walk hand in hand with loss and sorrow and outrage.
I celebrated NWSA, Diwali, Hanukkah, and will celebrate Christmas, and the New Year. Sitting with ancestral songs, family and friends, sharing stories and hopes and food... This is the only way I know to get through this time... To mourn loss while holding love close and celebrating life.
Pic: I love this graphic from the Lebanese musician and artist Mazen Kerbaj, which captures the simultaneity of ongoing horrors and our own modes of survival. There's a clearer version here.
5 comments:
The world is huge, and we will always live parallel lives with Sorrow, Loss, Starvation, Death, and Conflict even in our own country. It's enough to drown us and render us helpless, hopeless, and ineffective.
Each of us must do what we can to Make A Difference in some way and hope for a Ripple Effect. Just because we aren't directly involved doesn't mean we can't help with Change.
Good People do help. Kindness does spread outward. We raise the Generation That Does Better while we Do Better as well.
Spreading more Sorrow cannot help.
XO
Sad.
I know. It can be overwhelming.
It is so hard to separate our own personal joys from the trainwreck of the global news. I hope you are able to put it aside for quiet moments to truly feel the holiday spirit.
Nance--thank you for your wise words. I'm taking them to heart. I'm used to writing for myself here. I hope I didn't bring you down.
Gillian-- :/
StephLove-- <3
NGS--Thank you for the reminder... I hope I didn't alarm you. I am so thankful for those moments of personal joy.
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