Grief Yes - Despair No

 

"Grief Yes - Despair No" (1982) by Palestinian Artist Abdel Rahman Al Muzain.

Like many I am frequently feeling waves of intense grief about the state of the world, but we must  not give in to despair, but nor must we ignore reality, we must face our fragility. 

At the same  time I feel the unbearable weight of sadness, grief, trauma, anguish, heartbreak,agony, tormen of  collective Palestinian souls from 3 years of relentless, ruthless, monstrous, evil, heinous atrocities of Israel's genocide on the people in Gaza which is crushing.  

Everyone of  us will all experience grief in our lifetime. At some point, every single one of us is going to be obliterated by loss. It is the price we pay for loving, for allowing ourselves to care deeply for things in this world that are finite, and momentary.. 

The grief surging through us currently is the collective heartbreak of a fracturing world. It is incumbent on all of us to add our bit, because nobody is coming to save us and we need to give future generations a chance, we must build community to support, encourage and protect one another. 

Grief Yes - Despair means  that sorrow and mourning are natural parts of loving and living, but complete hopelessness should be resisted. Grief is a healthy response to loss.Despair is the loss of hope that anything can change. Grief says: This hurts because it mattered.Despair says: Nothing matters anymore.  

Grief has movement, even when it’s heavy. It longs. It aches. It remembers. Despair is collapse. It feels frozen. Flat. Helpless. It whispers, What’s the point?  Grief connects us to what we’ve loved.Despair disconnects us from ourselves, from each other, from possibility. Because grief ,as painful as it is,is still a sign of love. And love means there is still something alive in you.

It is also important to allow ourselves space to see the beauty and permission to experience joy, because allowing joy is also an act of resistance against those who seek to keep us paralysed by fear!  Allow our shared sorrows become not our ruin, but the very force that awakens, binds and liberates us. 

Have you ever noticed how sorrow grows kindness? We all share a communal cup of loss, and in it we find our deep kinship with one another and the living world. 

Your grief matters and it’s my hope you can find ways to soften the raw edges when you are fighting your way through those moments of despair. You are loved and you don’t have to do this alone. 

Wishing all who are feeling things heavy at the moment wherever you are peace, love, solace and solidarity.