"Deep peace of the running wave to you ... Deep peace of the flowing air to you .. Deep peace of the quiet earth to you .. Deep peace of the shining stars to you"
a Gaelic Blessing and a quiet personal mantra this past week as I say goodbye to my mother .. the woman who held my hand throughout our journey together, and whose hand I held as we said goodbye ..
"Deep peace of the gentle night to you"
Love you mum. xx
So .. I have been away from here for a little while. I have been spending my time with family and friends, sleeping late and sharing stories and reflections into the night. Saying goodbye to those we love, hurts .. and I am lost for words to share.
But I am so profoundly grateful to the many friends who have astounded me with their words of comfort, their time and focus, the regular calls to 'check in', sharing food, flowers and treats .. arriving with a willing ear to sit and talk.
Most of the time .. I feel like I am swimming in mud .. adrift .. disconnected.
And while my words are lost .. I have received in recent days some poetic and wise words from others that truly speak to me:
"The great secret of death, and perhaps its deepest connection with us, is this: that, in taking from us a being we have loved and venerated, death does not wound us without, at the same time, lifting us toward a more perfect understanding of this being and of ourselves.
I am not saying that we should love death, but rather that we should love life so generously, without picking and choosing, that we automatically include it (life’s other half) in our love. This is what actually happens in the great expansiveness of love, which cannot be stopped or constricted. It is only because we exclude it that death becomes more and more foreign to us and, ultimately, our enemy.
It is conceivable that death is infinitely closer to us than life itself…"
Rainer Maria Rilke
