Love and Loss

One summer years ago, I was preparing for a garage-sale. I was gathering up old clothes that didn’t represent who I was anymore and clothing the kids had outgrown. Combing each room of the house for items not used, some decisions were easy and some items evoked memories that made it hard to let go. 
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At that time, my son was in middle school - that awkward waiting place when you are no longer little but not yet grown up. We put the wooden blocks and spiderman blanket in the garage sale pile and he kept his Pokemon cards and favorite novels. 

He used to spend hours setting up his toy hero figures, creating scenarios and stop-action stories about them. When we unearthed the basket of these old familiar comrades, his eyes grew misty and then flooded with tears. A basket full of memories that reminded him that those carefree, long sun-lit days of playing as a child were gone. 

I reminded him that no matter how old we are, we should always incorporate a sense of play and delight in our lives, but this was a moment he needed to grieve. I stepped away and knew he’d be keeping that basket of toys that represented his childhood joy. 

Change is hard - there is loss involved. If it is something you’re glad to move on from or not, it is essential to have gratitude for how it shaped you as a person. 

What or who was so important to you at one stage in your life, has helped you to grow, brought you joy, a lesson, a skill, insight. Whether you interpret it as a good or bad experience, it came through your life for a reason and if you can see the value, then it’s been a blessing. 

I believe we are here to learn and evolve. That means change is crucial. We should expect it. Be open to it. It requires letting go which can certainly be bittersweet, but all is not gone forever. We can revisit and feel in our hearts the memories and meaning. Love and life is fluid. Things and people lap onto our shores and then move on. The comforting sound of the waves remind us that we are a part of this pattern of receiving and receding, it is a constant to rely on - change. The feelings, the situations, the experiences are all waves that come from a larger body of water - the source. Peace is felt when the attachment of any of it is let go. 

The next day of garage-sale preparation, tears spilled out of my young daughters brown eyes. She held out her broken wind-up moon toy that used to play a simple, soothing tune at bedtime. “Mom, how am I going to go to sleep now?” she anguished. It was another sign of having to grow to the next stage. Trust. We need to trust ourselves that we have the ability to move on with what with what remains inside us. Trust that the gift or lesson we need next will come rolling onto our shores with divine, natural timing to etch unique landscapes on the open shore of hearts. 


Beauty is Everywhere. 




- Holly