In Search of the Very
Just searching for the good stuff .
Wordy Wednesday
I woke up at 3:00 am just long enough to crane my neck towards the clock. I fell right back to sleep until nearly 6. I woke from a dream and the intensity of it was great. It began to fade immediately and by the time I was up and making the bed it was gone completely. The feeling lingered but the detail evaporated into thin air.
Yesterday I learned about the move of a long ago friend in the neighborhood I grew up in. A friend’s mom was moved into a group home for both care and safety. Alzheimers (and dementia) is a thief and creates a confusion for which there is no good remedy. It struck me, as I sat here this morning, how that loss of meaningful memory may fade into nothingness just as dreams do.
Does something linger? Are those memories lost forever or are they delivered to a vault in the mind for safe-keeping? Can a reminiscence escape the locked chamber? Or are they tucked away forever, never to appear as beams of light or sensation? Never to be evoked again by smell or touch or story?
I consider my understanding of impermanence:
Nothing lasts. There is only change and decay. Birth and death, re-birth and re-death. Nothing on this earthly plane remains the same. Nothing lasts forever.
Here it is in pictures:
“There is a time for departure even when there is no certain place to go”
Tennessee Williams
Thinking about dream and memory always leads leads me straight down the rabbit-hole of loss. Why is it, I wonder, that those things we most want to hang onto are the first ones that leave and the the things we most want to let go of, linger?
Loss isn’t always sudden and unexpected. Sometimes it can come as a surprise. Sometimes we find ourselves left standing out in the wide open. And sometimes we step into that void by choice. We can’t always map out what the space left by loss will look like. But rest assured, it’s always about to change. The sooner we make peace with all the ways change and memory and loss can alter our lives, the stronger we will find ourselves in the moments.
Joy, loss, change, regret.
Repeat for infinity …
We are a part of this cycle that is life. Sometimes loss prepares us for something different, something new. Loss is also clearance, making space for new things to emerge. Richer things.
Here then is my prayer for today:
Occupy the space you occupy.
13 Comments on “Wordy Wednesday”
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Where I’ve Been
“And sometimes we step into that void by choice.” Yep – have done that recently. I don’t have any judgments about the decision just yet – so it does feel like a void. Your writing has come at a good time for me – thank you. — Keizan
I believe that stepping into a void like that is a way to heal. A way to remove sensation and distraction, so that we might better appreciate the moment we find ourselves in. Thank you for writing., Keizan*
Much to consider here friend, all entered into a vault where they’ll be tumbled and stretched and considered and used. Thank you.
And maybe when memory leaves, grace steps in. Always grateful for the moment I’m in. Thanks for being here.
This touches on so many relevant things. Right now I am actively trying to lose some feelings of anger, and that anger stays with me still. But the feelings I do want to cling to, are they still with me? tucked away? All is possible with our marvelous minds.
Yes, anything is possible I suppose and I often wonder if memory is held in our bodies, too. A smell … a sensation, and it all comes flooding back. I remember recently seeing a dancer with Alzheimers who rose to the floor when music was played. It was as if her body “remembered” even as her mind was unaware. We are miracles.
The book “The Body Keeps the Score” is about that. Read with care, it was triggering for me.
I just added it to my library queue! Thanks! Now to plan a road trip so I can listen …
My review is here: https://crystaltrulove.com/books/books-i-read-in-2016/
Not only is it held in our bodies but it’s passed along in our DNA to future generations!
Simply amazing*
“Are those memories lost forever or are they delivered to a vault in the mind for safe-keeping? “Wow, that is a most poignant thought for our friends and their families who deal with dementia. Thank you for that gem. Ann
Thank you, Ann. So much to consider for sure. And always I remember that it’s the moment we are in that matters most.