Words meant to heal fulfill their task

This is the season of light, when the dark begins to lift before 4:30 a.m. and doesn’t encroach again until well into the evening. The summer solstice arrives in less than 100 hours.

Grief has been my constant companion of late, this sense of impending loss and all of the coulda-woulda-shoulda that accompanies it. I have had a solid and dependable companion and yes love for more time than I deserved, and I am grateful.

I reposted “A Bridge at Crossroads” for Saturday morning. It was wisdom speaking through me and, years later, to me.

Seldom is heard an encouraging word in these times, but life is very good when it is good.

As I write, I look out the window to see Summer prancing toward the backyard fence, and a rabbit scurries along the other side. The intrigued young dog scurries in tandem in a dance of — delight? frustration? sentry duty? I choose to believe delight, and perhaps a bit of longing when the rabbit disappears into the woods and she is stopped at the gate.

I paged through A Bridge at Crossroads and was soothed. “101 Encouragements,” indeed.

Sometimes I reach into my brain, looking for words that may encourage myself and others to find light and reason to hope in a dark world. And sometimes I open my own book to discover I had already found them.

“This can be — should be — a world of joy, though sometimes you have to look hard to find the reason to dance. Life is better lived when you search for the light and not the dark and when, having found the light, you dance for as long as your heart can stand the joy.

“In these pages, I hope you find what you need to hear.”

It must have occurred to me, four years ago when I compiled this book, that one day I might need to hear what I had said. One hundred and one encouragements jumped off the shelf and back into my heart.

A Bridge at Crossroads

When you are sad – for there will come a time when you are sad – remember a time you were so happy you wished this moment would last forever – because it does last forever as long as you remember.

When you are afraid – for there will come a time when you are afraid – remember a time when you felt so safe and comfortable you knew nothing could shake your world.

When you are lost – for there will come a time when you are lost – remember a time when you found a place that you never thought you’d reach and surprised yourself that you had it in you.

The lasting markers in our lives are the moments of clarity, not confusion; joy, not despair; learning, not loss.

– – – – –

(From the archives, and the opening reflection of the book of the same name.

What is all this

I have written only one song in 13 years. I wrote hundreds before I was 40.

I’d like to think I have continued to write music, though. Sometimes as I write these little reflections, it feels as if the words are singing, and it builds to a crescendo, and if there is no melody at least there are rhythms and recurring themes and all the elements that make music.

I could call it poetry, or prose poems. Poetry is a kind of music, or rap wouldn’t be music, right? (Don’t!)

Music is everywhere if you know how to listen. I didn’t say that first; I want to say Terry Pratchett wrote it, but the thought is eternal. (That’s what I was getting at when I wrote about “Revolution 9” the other day.)

I’m not sure if it matters what to call what I’m creating, except to signal to people who might like it. “Hey, folks, look here, I made this — thing.” “Come read my books of — stuff.”

I saw Logan Pearsall Smith’s wonderful book Trivia described as a book of aphorisms, but then I saw definitions of “aphorism” that suggested aphorisms are very brief and concise, more like an adage or a saying, like “Some days you’re the bug, some days you’re the windshield,” and Smith (or I) go on for more than a sentence or two.

And sometimes it’s just a fragment of a scene or a short story. The former subtitle of the blog said it as well as anything I ever came up with: “Fragments of thought and bursts of creativity.”

I suppose it does matter what it’s called if the goal is to find readers who may find it interesting or entertaining or useful. Otherwise I’m just puttering along amusing myself. Although what is any creative work if it’s not the result of the creator puttering along and amusing herself? “Once upon a time there was a funny little creature called a hobbit, and there was this ring that had magical power,” and the next thing you know …

– – – – –

By the way, you do know I’ve written books of — stuff, right?