Day 4 Pulpit Rock- Love and loss.

I don’t know why I still find it so amazing. How the universe always aligns to give me exactly what I need. It is amazing in a completely ordinary sort of way. The way that carrots and peas that sprout from seed are still amazing to me no matter how many times I sow them. Yesterday when I left the journal at the top of the hike asking “Tell me about something you have lost that still pulls at your heart”, I didn’t imagine I would lose something the next day. And yet I did, and now I get to answer my own question.

I woke up this morning to an email from a dear friend saying that he felt the need to remove me from his life to a certain degree. Due to what he called a “danger of slipping into compulsive behaviour”. While I understand he is taking steps towards wellness, that this has nothing to do with him not loving me, that in fact his love for me is what makes this necessary. None of this stopped me from balling my eyes out, from feeling as though I had lost something so very dear to me. This loss pulls at my heart like the moon pulls at the tides, with an ancient intensity that overwhelms. This morning I couldn’t stop crying, I hid in my bathroom “getting ready” trying to hide from my children the pattern of abandonment that was triggered. They of course knew anyway. Got ready without argument. My eldest made breakfast, my middle was eager to help me, getting me what I needed. They mothered their mother, though it all went unspoken. They knew my heart was shattered and they loved me in the way I needed in that moment. I am so very very blessed.

I know from my friends brave and tender email that he feels he has lost me. He courageously admitted that watching me blossom was too much for him to take. That he needed to take control of this loss in order to protect his heart. I understand. Understanding does not make it any easier to take.

Writing about my life has always been a salve for me, and having the opportunity to answer my own question is the beginning of healing this hurt. I feel as though I am in service for offering others the opportunity to do the same with the 12 days journals. And grateful to the universe for inspiring yesterdays question, something I thought was for others, but turned out to be for me. Within an hour I will begin my hike and go read about what others have lost. These are things which connect us all, things every human has experienced, love and loss.