Every so often, I find myself drawn back into the reading world by a book cover, a recommendation, an article, or just plain old walking into a bookstore and finding something that piques my interest.
The current read definitely has an interesting premise. I feel fortunate to say that I have never been in a situation where I was grieving for a close one. But I am very aware that many of the people in my life have lost close ones and have experienced grieving of their own. And I do very much mean, of their own. Everyone grieves differently and feels differently. Everyone needs something different and reacts differently. I can imagine that if I was grieving, this book might pull a much stronger emotion from me just because of what it is suggesting or asking the reader to consider. Alas, I am not in such a situation and am reading this book with a more philosophical hat on instead.
The romantic component of this novel seems to be only slightly secondary to the primary theme of the novel. What if there was an alternative way to grieve your loss? One that could help ease your pain to some extent? One where your loved one is still as lost to the world of the living as before, but you could say another goodbye or ease into that final goodbye in a different way?
There isn’t an easy answer for this. Each of us approaches our own death with each passing day. Quite a morbid thought, but it is what it is. We spend the time we have until that moment comes, hopefully living our lives to the fullest we can.
At a dinner tonight with a few friends, one of the significant others noted how difficult it was sometimes to keep up with how everyone is connected to each other. The more involved you are with other people in your life during your time with the living, the more people may be impacted by your passing. It’s all tied together. It’s almost enough for me to consider whether I should not build those relationships so that less people feel any sort of pain or sadness when I eventually leave. But very quickly, I back away from that thought. In place of that, there are memories that I’d rather experience and be able to cherish. Perhaps it’s partially selfish that once we pass, we are unable to actually see the pain of those closest to us. Our eyes are closed to it, quite literally so.
In the end, all I can think to say is to grab life by the balls and just live it. You don’t know when life will pass you by.
nemo travels 