This entry is different from any others I’ve written. Today’s post is about how it feels when life goes Primal.
As I pondered my quest for enlightenment, I realized that life isn’t always about love and compassion. Quite the opposite is true. Life is the constant struggle of human emotions, ranging from primal to divine and the choices we make. The journey toward enlightenment can only be successfully made by fully realizing ALL healthy emotions, not just the pleasant ones.
For discussion, let’s name the primal emotions lust, fear and grief. Lust: the basic instinct to eat and reproduce. Fear: the survival based fight or flight response. Grief: the life-crippling emptiness caused by natural or unnatural devastation. Today’s entry is about grief.
Look around just about anywhere to find devastation. Loss of life, limb, peace, property, liberty and livelihood are daily news headlines. On the macro level, we can efficiently remove ourselves from consideration as the cause or effect by seeing it as happening to someone else. But on a micro level, when devastation hits personally, it’s a different story. Some people completely withdraw: become callous and refrain from feeling the pain. Others cry, lament or otherwise fully express the emptiness of grief, then later vow to make the world a better place. That’s where the grieving process comes in.
Keshia Ashley, my circle-dancing, fast-running, rug-rubbing, super-sonic, tail-wagging, music loving puppy dog died yesterday, unexpectedly due to inconclusive reasons at 8 years old. Everyone who met Keshia loved Keshia; especially her mom and dad. I write this post at my impromptu, open-cardboard box private viewing with tears streaming down my face.
How can this and all of the other devastating loss I’ve recently experienced be for the “Good of All?” What does the “Good of All” really mean? How would the world be different if everyone felt the grief of others as his or her own? I really want to hear from you. Please comment.
As I pondered my quest for enlightenment, I realized that life isn’t always about love and compassion. Quite the opposite is true. Life is the constant struggle of human emotions, ranging from primal to divine and the choices we make. The journey toward enlightenment can only be successfully made by fully realizing ALL healthy emotions, not just the pleasant ones.
For discussion, let’s name the primal emotions lust, fear and grief. Lust: the basic instinct to eat and reproduce. Fear: the survival based fight or flight response. Grief: the life-crippling emptiness caused by natural or unnatural devastation. Today’s entry is about grief.
Look around just about anywhere to find devastation. Loss of life, limb, peace, property, liberty and livelihood are daily news headlines. On the macro level, we can efficiently remove ourselves from consideration as the cause or effect by seeing it as happening to someone else. But on a micro level, when devastation hits personally, it’s a different story. Some people completely withdraw: become callous and refrain from feeling the pain. Others cry, lament or otherwise fully express the emptiness of grief, then later vow to make the world a better place. That’s where the grieving process comes in.
Keshia Ashley, my circle-dancing, fast-running, rug-rubbing, super-sonic, tail-wagging, music loving puppy dog died yesterday, unexpectedly due to inconclusive reasons at 8 years old. Everyone who met Keshia loved Keshia; especially her mom and dad. I write this post at my impromptu, open-cardboard box private viewing with tears streaming down my face.
How can this and all of the other devastating loss I’ve recently experienced be for the “Good of All?” What does the “Good of All” really mean? How would the world be different if everyone felt the grief of others as his or her own? I really want to hear from you. Please comment.