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When we see death as the final step to freedom and the release from any and all burdens of living, why not welcome and embrace death as a friend, not the enemy? We learn from the dying how to let go and celebrate life while we have it. When we return to that from which we came, we rejoin Creation in a new form, another existence in a different state, Why not look forward to that? Maybe not today, but some day, that is certain. Grief and loss are part of living . When we learn how to weave that experience into the larger tapestry we work on continually, we find our place with others who have been there before us. I am not sure where this following came from but I have shared it often as it speaks to me: "Fear knocked at the door. Faith answered. No one was there."

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Beautiful. "A cloud never dies."

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Dear Gregory,

Thank you ~I am deeply moved by your words today while caring for my 94 year old mother who thinks I am her sister; as my husband and I grieved our baby; and then as we buried my husband who died of cancer; and many friends.

Am understanding some of the pain and the peace you speak of. Thank you for the wisdom and beauty which is soothing and inspiring at once.

Sending gratitude 🙏🏼

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It appears to me that you have really experienced life fully Sandi. What a treasure. I wish I could go for a long walk with you and learn from your many experiences. All blessings...

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Damn Gregory, right off the start… “we are living in a time of transformation, of endings. And much of it is beyond our control.” – my body has given up, or at least caught up to its own destructive desirability… synonymous with Chronic Illness and living as if I could find strength – that time is over and only the ‘Other’ lives… an ‘Other’ that guides by decrepitcy. I can’t imagine a life now without accepting – here and now – the limited brokenness of my body, and the furthering torture of use that ‘life-itself’ will plunge into my own corporeal.

My life is irrevocably fucked. My body has irreversible damage. I can’t uphold a normal life anymore – for myself or others expectations. (Thank you for a space of leavening, as we are all learning from you. Sharing with you, with us.)

Death has always been a close friend. And has breached ever closer every year I dedicated to healing. Having to qualm the pained out, falling away, emptying body. Breaching into what One can only call ‘the qualm of spirit’. Death seems to join hand in hand with acceptance to embrace life without question.

There is no ‘rightness’ now. There is so much deep imperfections I am living out – unsustainably. As ecocide is an illness, my illness is an ecocide. The landscape of my body is as faltering as the landscapes of our Earth. I feel the vast reflective quality of instability that refrains compatibility. As much as the body is ‘life in and for itself’ – “I can feel my body rot” – as managing a prolonged illness continues itself known as ‘life in and for itself’.

As to say : there is no escape from any form here and now. As much as people would like to capsule themselves to safety – the world itself is radical – burdening and screaming out through all spectrums – your own body included. As animals go quiet, and the skies begin to burn ever more color (AZ sunsets) – flaming fueling carnage of our own hands –

I mean truly – I must pass on – its time is eager.

I don’t know what to say anymore. I cannot be consoled. Only deep breaths and acceptance.

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Beautiful words Jacob. May we all become good soil.

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Sending my sincere condolences to you and your wife, Gregory. That's a lot of loss in the space of one year. And thanks for conveying what you experienced.

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Thank you Diana. Peace be with you...

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Thanks, Gregory. You too.

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1000 hearts

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Thank you so much for sharing your grief. Child loss is possibly the deepest, and it doesn’t make other grief any less awful. The season of transformation feels quite intense this year, for Millennials especially (assuming you are one too). I hope you continue to share when you can. 🖤

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I appreciate your kind thoughts Mez.

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