Grief

"Old friends, old mothers, dogs, and brothers; there's only so much letting go you can ask someone to do" - Masterpiece by Big Thief

Life is filled with grief. It is often said that it is the price we pay for love. In our sadness we are reminded of how much we have loved someone once they leave our lives forever.

One thing that I have noticed in my own life and in my work with clients is how grief plays out constantly in the background of our lives and not only when someone passes away.

As parents there comes a day when we will pick our children up and carry them for the last time. There is a felt sense of grief somewhere in the conscious or subconscious mind that the little children we once knew don't exist anymore.

We mourn our childhoods and innocence lost. A time where those of us lucky enough had no responsibilities and were in blissful ignorance of how cruel and malevolently evil the world and its people can be.

As we age we mourn our youth and its potential, some choices made (or not) and yearn for 'what ifs'.

So long as the passing of time exists, change will be constant and with that comes grief. We can never go back. Times change, childhood homes get sold, 'music doesn't get made like it used to' and people pass on.

With every ending comes a new beginning but eventually there is only so much letting go you can ask someone to do. Just like death and our own mortality, if we turn towards these things and accept them for what they are, unavoidable and an intrinsic part of life, we can begin to find our own ways of living alongside them.