When I was younger, I tried very hard to get rid of difficult feelings, including an inexplicable sadness that would come over me from time to time. But I’ve learned that the full range of human experience is more important than happiness, because it opens a depth that can make joy possible. I’ve learned over time that the sadness and ache I encounter is actually the sweet ache of being alive. It lets me know that I’m here and connected to everything larger than me. It’s one of my oldest friends and teachers. This poem is a tribute to that sweet ache.
When the sweet ache of being alive, lodged between who you are and who you will be, is awakened, befriend this moment. It will guide you. Its sweetness is what holds you. Its ache is what moves you on.
A Question to Walk With: Begin to describe the history of your own sweet ache of being alive.
