What a thoughtful and true column. As I read it, I thought back over the last few years, the losses I've felt and how I've dealt with them.
We have a tremendous number of people in the country feeling huge losses right now -- losses of jobs and careers, of income, of the feeling of independence. Loss of their homes, their sense of progress, their sense of self. Loss of their savings, their safety net, their sense of proportion. Even if we have found the bottom of the recession and are taking tiny steps back up, there are millions of people who got knocked off their feet in one way or another and are struggling to deal with it.
Here's my question: Labeling things as a loss is good; it allows us to see it as it is, and grieve, and then (hopefully) move on. But what happens when we can't move on, but we get stuck in the loss phase?
For me, personally, there seems to be an inclination to keep revisiting the loss, as though I could change it or do something about it. As though I would have a different answer this time, or a way to make it all work out.
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Dave,
What a thoughtful and true column. As I read it, I thought back over the last few years, the losses I've felt and how I've dealt with them.
We have a tremendous number of people in the country feeling huge losses right now -- losses of jobs and careers, of income, of the feeling of independence. Loss of their homes, their sense of progress, their sense of self. Loss of their savings, their safety net, their sense of proportion. Even if we have found the bottom of the recession and are taking tiny steps back up, there are millions of people who got knocked off their feet in one way or another and are struggling to deal with it.
Here's my question: Labeling things as a loss is good; it allows us to see it as it is, and grieve, and then (hopefully) move on. But what happens when we can't move on, but we get stuck in the loss phase?
For me, personally, there seems to be an inclination to keep revisiting the loss, as though I could change it or do something about it. As though I would have a different answer this time, or a way to make it all work out.
Thoughts?
August 14, 2009 - 8:07amThis Comment
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