Everyday Canvas

On Loss and Bucket lists

“Loss sets its own clock. It distorts time and memory, makes days and years short and perpetual all at once.”
How Fires End by Marco Rafalà
How does loss, any loss, affect you? Can we ever prevent a loss?

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As human beings we are pretty good in trying to avoid loss. The trick word here is trying. No matter how much we try, loss is unavoidable. It also leaves in its wake some pain, most of the time, acute pain.

So what do we do? We change direction. In my case, I keep incredibly busy, until I can face the fact of a loss. I guess keeping busy is some form of hiding. But don’t we also hide from tornados and hurricanes, too? When the storm passes, then, it is easier to deal with the damage.

On the other hand, loss is a bittersweet concoction of love and wisdom about what matters. Inside the pain, we find the opportunity to take a good look at the past and present moments of what or who we lost. This helps us to live life with more of a purpose. This is a good thing, this looking back because it helps us and settles us.

Loss is not a disease. It is part of the change and the inevitability of life. When faced with a loss, we need to find our mental flexibility, maybe not right away when we are overwhelmed, but over time through watching out our thoughts and remembrances and connecting with what matters after the loss.

For: "Space Blog Group" 

Prompt: Name ten things you would put on your bucketlist.
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I really don't do bucket lists. Maybe because I am old and I don't want to disappoint myself by croaking before I do all that.

But I do like lists. I make grocery lists when I go grocery shopping, and everyday I write down a list of things to do during that day. For anything else, I have a calendar on the wall, which is mostly for appointments and the regular things I do like paying bills at the beginning of the month or things I need to do in WdC or things I promised to do in real life.