Thanks for this theme. My experience of softening of terrible things came last Sunday afternoon when ten of my good friends joined me on zoom call for a healing meditation for my 6 year old grandson Echo who has had a relapse of cancer. He and I are very close and I have been struggling with anxiety and worry since his diagnosis in January. I asked a friend who is a minister if she would lead a healing meditation for Echo and so on Sunday afternoon for 30 minutes we wrapped Echo in love and light. I felt lighter after the experience. He has 8 more months of chemo treatments ahead and we decided as a group to do this once a month. Grateful to have so many wonderful women loving on my grandson.
Alexa- All the horses, softening of the terrible things and those friends. As you wrote, “The people who have talked about our Terrible Things the way people who have powered through the unthinkable can” is perfect timing for me today. I love the photo of the tree you shared. You reminded me of the toy horses I played with for hours on end as a small girl. And the sky, as you walked towards your destination. Deep gratitude for the people and friends who are all walking me home these days. As always, I love listening to your voice as you read. Thank you Alexa
Such a thoughtful essay. The softening of Terrible Things is such a beautiful and good phrase; I like it and I will incorporate it into my thoughts. For me it is Nature that does this magic.
Your writing about horses triggered an old song, taken from the recesses of my mind: Wild Horses by the Rolling Stones. It's a beauty.
I love Wild Horses....we should make a horses song playlist! So glad my words resonate. And yes, Nature always does it for me, too. Even better when experienced with a friend.
A few weeks after my bone marrow transplant, I needed uterus surgery in emergency. Because I had no platlets, and transfusions were not effective anymore, I was losing a lot a blood. It needed to be fixed asap in order to keep on fighting for my life.
One of my good friend is Obgyn so I asked him to do it.
He came to pick me in my room, found me with no hair, extremely weak and scared, put me on a wheelchair and pushed me until the operating room.
Seems sad right?
But guess what, this moment was so fun!
First, we were happy to see each other. Seeing his face reminded me of who I am. Then, to cheer me up, he ran in the hospital corridors as kids racing with little cars . He had never driven a wheelchair so he bumped me several times and I almost fell. We laughed a lot. And then he stopped my hemorragic bleeding.
Nothing better than a good friend to soften the Terrible things.
"Seeing his face reminded me of who I am." That is exactly how I felt with my friend D. and Tim. Thank you for sharing your story, what an ordeal, and how wonderful a friend could show up and help soften, even for a minute, the Terrible Things... :)
jonathan eating his first ice cream cone on his 5th birthday, the stickiness of our backyard in july, chocolate all over his face and dripping down the cone in his hand until it pooled around the joystick of his chair; his peals of laughter, the softening of a terrible thing.
When I was very ill, my boyfriend at the time came over and lay alongside me on my narrow couch, then made me switch spots with him to be in the cozier corner. I told him he couldn’t make me laugh because laughing was so tiring, which made us both laugh. Loved this essay and thanks for the reminder to soften and hold each other
Oh what a wonderful moment, especially the laughter. Thank you for sharing, and I'm so glad my essay served as a reminder. I needed to be reminded, too. :)
Thanks for this theme. My experience of softening of terrible things came last Sunday afternoon when ten of my good friends joined me on zoom call for a healing meditation for my 6 year old grandson Echo who has had a relapse of cancer. He and I are very close and I have been struggling with anxiety and worry since his diagnosis in January. I asked a friend who is a minister if she would lead a healing meditation for Echo and so on Sunday afternoon for 30 minutes we wrapped Echo in love and light. I felt lighter after the experience. He has 8 more months of chemo treatments ahead and we decided as a group to do this once a month. Grateful to have so many wonderful women loving on my grandson.
What a beautiful circle of love for your grandson. Holding you all in my heart. Thank you for sharing this powerful image :)
Alexa- All the horses, softening of the terrible things and those friends. As you wrote, “The people who have talked about our Terrible Things the way people who have powered through the unthinkable can” is perfect timing for me today. I love the photo of the tree you shared. You reminded me of the toy horses I played with for hours on end as a small girl. And the sky, as you walked towards your destination. Deep gratitude for the people and friends who are all walking me home these days. As always, I love listening to your voice as you read. Thank you Alexa
Yes, the Ram Dass quote, "We're all just walking each other home" comes to mind. Thank you for sharing, and for reading/listening.
Such a thoughtful essay. The softening of Terrible Things is such a beautiful and good phrase; I like it and I will incorporate it into my thoughts. For me it is Nature that does this magic.
Your writing about horses triggered an old song, taken from the recesses of my mind: Wild Horses by the Rolling Stones. It's a beauty.
I love Wild Horses....we should make a horses song playlist! So glad my words resonate. And yes, Nature always does it for me, too. Even better when experienced with a friend.
A few weeks after my bone marrow transplant, I needed uterus surgery in emergency. Because I had no platlets, and transfusions were not effective anymore, I was losing a lot a blood. It needed to be fixed asap in order to keep on fighting for my life.
One of my good friend is Obgyn so I asked him to do it.
He came to pick me in my room, found me with no hair, extremely weak and scared, put me on a wheelchair and pushed me until the operating room.
Seems sad right?
But guess what, this moment was so fun!
First, we were happy to see each other. Seeing his face reminded me of who I am. Then, to cheer me up, he ran in the hospital corridors as kids racing with little cars . He had never driven a wheelchair so he bumped me several times and I almost fell. We laughed a lot. And then he stopped my hemorragic bleeding.
Nothing better than a good friend to soften the Terrible things.
"Seeing his face reminded me of who I am." That is exactly how I felt with my friend D. and Tim. Thank you for sharing your story, what an ordeal, and how wonderful a friend could show up and help soften, even for a minute, the Terrible Things... :)
jonathan eating his first ice cream cone on his 5th birthday, the stickiness of our backyard in july, chocolate all over his face and dripping down the cone in his hand until it pooled around the joystick of his chair; his peals of laughter, the softening of a terrible thing.
i am right there in that moment with you. what a softening :) thank you for sharing this.
When I was very ill, my boyfriend at the time came over and lay alongside me on my narrow couch, then made me switch spots with him to be in the cozier corner. I told him he couldn’t make me laugh because laughing was so tiring, which made us both laugh. Loved this essay and thanks for the reminder to soften and hold each other
Oh what a wonderful moment, especially the laughter. Thank you for sharing, and I'm so glad my essay served as a reminder. I needed to be reminded, too. :)
Needed this today, thank you for your beautiful words and thoughts.
I'm so glad my words resonated today. Thank YOU.