Give Sorrow Words
Give sorrow words; the grief that does not speak,
Whispers the o’er-fraught heart and bids it break.
(Shakespeare, Macbeth, 5.1.50-1)
Give sorrow words; the grief that does not speak,
Whispers the o’er-fraught heart and bids it break.
(Shakespeare, Macbeth, 5.1.50-1)
My niece Janean (by way of my brother Gary) is such a good mother. She wrote this touching email to my father who shared it with me. Now Janean has agreed to share it with all of you. It’s a fine example, I think, of moral and spiritual education…of giving structure, but also, giving space….
GRACE for four generations of Graces Amazing, isn’t it, grace? Praising. Blessing. Raising hearts lifted in thanks. How sweet the sound. The Greeks named three Graces. Joy. Charm. Beauty. Grace, a Lost and Found Department. Finding our ground within the surround sound Grace cares. Cares for. Cares about. Searches out the heart of the other….
June 6th, all my natural-born life, has been my parents’ wedding anniversary. Mother died last year on May 1st, 2006, very close to what would have been their 64th wedding anniversary. June 6th is one of the few dates of the year that I have not only memorized, but have etched in some deep recess…
Here is one stanza from a nine stanza poem by William Blake that appears in “Songs of Innocence.” I read it as speaking of compassion as part of our interdependent connection…and a sense of spiritual care. –JGR ON ANOTHER’S SORROW (stanza 1 of 9) Can I see another’s woe, And not be in sorrow too?…
Transition is a place all of its own. In between-ness. Being on the move, in motion. Sorting and packing. Yes this/not that. Clearing space, literally, for a new life cycle to follow, the unknown, fallow, yet fertile field yet to be plowed and sown. My studio has become a staging area for my move. The…
Last year we were witnessing for my mother as she slipped out of the world, one breath at a time. Ruth Evelyn Johnston Thompson, ah, what a gal! We all dropped by her bedside to witness with her. We brought what we could and we said our good-byes. My father said his with love songs…
I loved the quote you use for this thought. My current book is about unwitnessed grief. I said that grief has many siblings — guilt, anger, separation among others but of course, Shakespeare says it best.
Your course sounds wonderful. I’ve suggested the “I remember” exercise and also the “I don’t remember” exercise that Natalie Goldberg uses in her Writing the Bones workshop. But your expansion of it to include differing points of view and to make it a way for people to express ranges of sorrow is truly inspired. Thank you for telling us about it on the Women writing the West website and for having this site and blog. You are appreciated! Warmly, Jane
I have articls about grief and a journal called A Year and a Day which I kept after losing my wife. Idaho State Unvieristy is the publisher.
Michael Corrigan