Release - One Little Word Up

The "word up" at One Little Word is "Release."  

Little did I know, when I chose it at the start of 2014, the profound meaning "release" would have for me when the time came to write about it.

Recently, a friend who had pancreatic cancer passed. Her husband and two children spoke at her funeral, and their pain and grief were witnessed and shared by all of us.  

When I looked at her casket, I felt the deep peace that comes when we leave this life. Around her was the excruciating suffering of her husband, children, friends, family, but my friend was at peace. 

I know that there is so much joy to come in my life, but there is so much pain too - so many losses are in my future - parents, friends, the tragedies of people I don't even know and yet feel so intensely.  There are many blessings in store for each of us - but also sadness.  How do we live with wisdom and compassion and joy, while there is so much suffering and pain?

I received a lot of wise words when I posed this question to my friends.  And here is what clicked for me.  Grief is not an isolated emotion.  It is the other side of love.  To grieve deeply and to empathize with others means we love deeply.  There is no love without loss.  No joy without sorrow. 

Love and grief go hand in hand.  Feeling deep grief and sorrow means that we have loved deeply and intensely.  

This tag celebrates love, and its power to release us from darkness, and bathe us in light.

Won't you join us at One Little Word?  What does "release" inspire you to create?  Link up your art.

Supplies used:

Stencil Club December 2014 Stencils
Liquitex Matte Medium
Pam Carriker Paints and Inks
Wendy Vechhi Embossing Paste

Update: I came across these wise words by Ram Dass - so perfect for this post:  

Over the years, in working with people who are grieving, I’ve encouraged them first of all to surrender to the experience of their pain. To counteract our natural tendency to turn away from pain, we open to it as fully as possible and allow our hearts to break. We must take enough time to remember our losses – be they friends or loved ones passed away, the death of long-held hopes or dreams, the loss of homes, careers, or countries, or health we may never get back again. Rather than close ourselves to grief, it helps to realize that we only grieve for what we love. 

I think we can only feel "release" if we first fully feel the difficult feelings from which we crave "release."

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