On giving

It's a dark, blustery late November morning and I'm not sure I'm really up for writing on the subject that's present on my mind: dissolution and loss. I've recently heard that the marriage of someone close to me is in trouble. Thanksgiving is tomorrow and I am aware that for many the air is thick with the idea that everyone "should" have a happy holiday of family love and good cheer. But what if your family is unravelling?

As I've grown up and begun to see differently, begun to see new aspects of family life, I've been slowly facing my own sense of loss. It's a loss of the idea that there is some certainty and ultimate safety in the world/life. It's coming to the understanding that parents (or adults in general) are not gods possessing all the answers.

When we see life falling to pieces all around us, family comes down to simply BEING THERE for others. I have this image in mind of people holding tight to each other as the world crashes down around them. There's no where else to go, nothing left that can be done, nowhere better to be. Love is all that is left.

Today my sense of unravelling goes deeper and broader than immediate family. It's also about the human family.