Dial up the Magic

I was listening to Krista Tippet’s On Being podcast with Joanna Macy entitled, “A Wild Love for the World,” when something Joanna said resonated deeply. A Buddhist scholar and philosopher of ecology, Joanna was reflecting on the death of her husband of 56 years, Fran.

“He’s part of my world right now. We become what we love. We just have to be available in this moment—you can dial up the magic of that at any time.”

And then she quoted Rilke, a 20th-century poet: “What batters you becomes your strength.”

As I listened, I realized that in publishing Terri’s memoir with Miss M, we have become what we love—dialing up the magic that is/was Terri Luanna, creating a beautiful requiem for Terri’s legacy.

Grief invites us to stretch our capacity to open our hearts. Too often, many of us slide into a space of fear—hiding within our sorrow, running from the piercing pain, denying the tremendous ache for fear we will come undone. If there’s anything I’ve learned in my 62 years, it’s that there’s no getting around or away from our grief. Looking at our grief, stretching our hearts to embrace and hold it, allows us to tap into a wider, loving connection to the person we lost as well as to each other. The universality of grief offers each of us a vast network with whom we can walk together. Because in the end, what breaks our heart is also what binds us.

That binding connection was palpable Monday night at our Lakeville Library Graceful Woman Warrior Book Talk. The small group of attendees chose to stretch their minds and hearts to embrace our story. Bound together by our shared stories of love, loss and living beyond, we dialed up the Graceful Woman Warrior magic together, unleashing a deeper connection to each other as well as a new understanding of how to live a full and meaningful life, all the way to the end…

Please consider dialing up the magic with Miss M and me at one of our upcoming Book Talks. I promise you, Terri’s Grace Lessons will awaken life-changing insights and assist you in navigating the everyday journey of being human.

With Love,

Auntie L