Matters of the heart…Your comments welcome:

It dawned on me today that time and time again, when listening to someone talk about what is most important to them in life (particularly during end-of-life reflections), I hear stories about people stating that “Relationships” are what they’ve come to value most.

This got me thinking about grief; specifically, the parallels I’m seeing between the most important parts of life (relationships), and the pain that is associated with death. As time passes, and I have more experiences to reflect back on, I’m realizing that, Yes, the most important parts of LIFE do indeed center around Building Relationships — with others — and with one’s self. And not only that, I’m seeing that DEATH, interestingly enough, is ALSO about Building Relationships. Transformed relationships.

In other words, LIFE is about relationship building…not only with those that are “alive”…but with those that are “dead”, too! If I make it a priority to maintain All of my relationships, I believe this act is one of the most powerful, comforting, and healing things I can do. 

Death is not the end, but rather a change — in relationship status.

So to soothe the pain from grief, I offer that one of the best things that can be done is to nurture the transformed relationship. And I don’t think this nurturing is something that needs to be done all the time in order to maintain the relationship, just as I don’t believe that I need to have excessively numerous contacts with those that are “alive” in my life. It just needs to be done when needed.