{"id":966,"date":"2020-09-07T09:00:34","date_gmt":"2020-09-07T13:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/alexhenryfoster.com\/journal\/?p=966"},"modified":"2020-09-15T22:13:40","modified_gmt":"2020-09-16T02:13:40","slug":"edition-7-theres-no-easy-way-to-say-goodbye","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alexhenryfoster.com\/journal\/edition-7-theres-no-easy-way-to-say-goodbye\/","title":{"rendered":"Edition #7 <br> There&#8217;s No Easy Way to Say Goodbye"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"966\" class=\"elementor elementor-966\" data-elementor-post-type=\"post\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-2792ab16 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"2792ab16\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;classic&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-2e79d850\" data-id=\"2e79d850\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-50ac2c45 elementor-widget elementor-widget-theme-post-featured-image elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"50ac2c45\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"theme-post-featured-image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"502\" src=\"https:\/\/alexhenryfoster.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/header_alivemask_montage-1024x502.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-987\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/alexhenryfoster.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/header_alivemask_montage-1024x502.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/alexhenryfoster.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/header_alivemask_montage-300x147.jpg 300w, https:\/\/alexhenryfoster.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/header_alivemask_montage-768x376.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-9493cb8 elementor-widget elementor-widget-spacer\" data-id=\"9493cb8\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"spacer.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-spacer\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-spacer-inner\"><\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-558a72ea elementor-widget elementor-widget-theme-post-title elementor-page-title elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"558a72ea\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"theme-post-title.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Edition #7 <br> There&#8217;s No Easy Way to Say Goodbye<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4ec0cd5d elementor-align-center elementor-mobile-align-center elementor-widget elementor-widget-post-info\" data-id=\"4ec0cd5d\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"post-info.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul class=\"elementor-inline-items elementor-icon-list-items elementor-post-info\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li class=\"elementor-icon-list-item elementor-repeater-item-8d55559 elementor-inline-item\" itemprop=\"datePublished\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-icon-list-text elementor-post-info__item elementor-post-info__item--type-date\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<time>07\/09\/2020<\/time>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-23808e90 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"23808e90\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>It\u2019s from my writing room, almost weightlessly standing in the middle of the luxuriant colors of the Highlands of Virginia, that I\u2019m writing to you. I got home a little while ago, after spending most of the last 6 months in my suitcases. It always feels kind of strange yet comforting for me to be back here\u2026 Everything is so peaceful, from the deep serenity of the forest to the harmony of the animal kingdom living in its midst, the whole eco-system works in a stillness I have hardly ever been able to experience &#8211; if at all. But that I am forever grateful whenever I can contemplate its graceful essence anytime I can spend just enough time to actually care unpacking my suitcase, which I have done yesterday, meaning I might be here for a little while.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-b233d26 elementor-blockquote--skin-quotation elementor-widget elementor-widget-blockquote\" data-id=\"b233d26\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"blockquote.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<blockquote class=\"elementor-blockquote\">\n\t\t\t<p class=\"elementor-blockquote__content\">\n\t\t\t\tI lost a friend last week\u2026 Maybe it\u2019s the reason why I feel so grim today. He took his own life.\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/blockquote>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-de10922 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"de10922\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>I wrote quite a lot in this room, isolated from the rest of the house, from the rest of the world, where I could be alone with myself, surrounded by walls made of long windows, a place designed a hundred years ago for those with a fragile health and prone to illness to get some fresh air in winter, to get some rest whenever needed\u2026 It somehow fits me perfectly. From the first moment I visited the house, I knew this place would become my writing room. There are things like that that cannot be explained; you either follow their gentle guidance or you deny their invisible appeal altogether. The magnificent chaos of Tangier taught me that, but it\u2019s only once I started living in the quietness of my current environment that I finally accepted to explore the asymmetrical shape of existence, or at least what it may mean for mine. \u2028<\/p><p>I lost a friend last week\u2026 Maybe it\u2019s the reason why I feel so grim today. He took his own life. Some say it\u2019s the ultimate act of cowardliness one can do\u2026 But to say something like that also means not knowing much about the matters of the heart, the magnitude by which sorrows can take a hold of you. Blessed are those who conquered their own darkness\u2026 But there are others, like me, like my friend who lost his battle, who will have to fight all their lives for what looks like a simple balance between light and darkness without capitulating. I heard people say so many times that committing suicide is a lack of love for others, while the reality of those who take that one-way road is often about offering an ultimate gift of peace to those they loved and who were greatly affected by their desperation. A heart is way deeper than what we want to make out of it to convince ourselves of our well-being, which is so often the reason we need to dwell into the absolute as a remedy for our need to define the indefinable. The necessity to understand covers a lot of the fear we have to actually comprehend what we keep denying in our own lives. Ignorance might be bliss, but emotions, may they be real or not, are felt no matter what they are made of.\u2028<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-81fe9c1 elementor-blockquote--skin-quotation elementor-widget elementor-widget-blockquote\" data-id=\"81fe9c1\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"blockquote.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<blockquote class=\"elementor-blockquote\">\n\t\t\t<p class=\"elementor-blockquote__content\">\n\t\t\t\tWe tend to grow cynical as we witness life unfolding its reality, as we lose faith in our own ability to become the dreams we used to define with so many details and care ever since we were children.\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/blockquote>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-411ffd82 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"411ffd82\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>I grew up in a family affected by mental illness. Before becoming a Christian, my father spent most of his life abusing alcohol to numb the pain, the same way others use pills, sports, entertainment, or possessions to cover their own. I grew up witnessing his profound struggles with depression and desperation. His mother was the same. She died of a broken heart, too young for anyone to die, too miserable for anyone to be. That anguish followed me, it\u2019s a part of me. I know about it. Those close to me know about it. It\u2019s a lonely place to be, filled with implacable paradoxes and indescribable contradictions. It\u2019s like living just a little off focus, not blurred enough for reality to be totally out of reach and just not outlined well enough to actually be part of that reality. And as much as your loved ones want to join in, the only thing you want is for them to be totally excluded from that perpetual sensation of grief, until you completely shut down, as you feel like even your skin produces that mournful scent of emotional torment. It\u2019s subtle, as you are still functioning, still keeping the appearance of slowly getting better, acting for the ones you love to have a relief in their own lives\u2026 until you can\u2019t play the part anymore. It is at that moment that you become unreachable, sometimes horrifically to the point of not wanting to feel anything anymore\u2026 Life, death, everlasting pain\u2026 It doesn\u2019t make much difference in the end, regardless of the so-called experts who theorize about whatever story we are ready to believe to make sense of it all.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u2028<\/p><p>I have always found very difficult to let go to that inner intuition. We tend to grow cynical as we witness life unfolding its reality, as we lose faith in our own ability to become the dreams we used to define with so many details and care ever since we were children. It&#8217;s as if, at one point, our memories suddenly became the theatre of our own disappointments, filled with more scenes of defeats and failures than clamors of personal and communal joys\u2026 As if our souvenirs were only baring images reflecting what we no longer could look back at, what needs to be denied or narratively recomposed, reconstructed, revamped\u2026 Some have the incredible strength to do it, but most don&#8217;t. But I don\u2019t know what\u2019s the most tragic of the two, if I\u2019m really honest with you&#8230;\u2028<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6d53928 elementor-blockquote--skin-quotation elementor-widget elementor-widget-blockquote\" data-id=\"6d53928\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"blockquote.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<blockquote class=\"elementor-blockquote\">\n\t\t\t<p class=\"elementor-blockquote__content\">\n\t\t\t\tAnd just like acceptance allows us to see through our own darkness, love allows us to touch and to be touched in return.\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/blockquote>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-8058208 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"8058208\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>I first attempted to take my life when I was 16 years old. I felt I had seen enough\u2026 It\u2019s my best friend who found me, who saved me. We never really talked about it after. I kept growing up, in what felt like a slow kind of suicide. There are always some moments of clarity, where light shines in too much of a wonderful way to deny even the existence of God, until there\u2019s no light anymore and I am left with only the echoes of my own voice whispering the same funeral hymn in my head. It takes a lot of love to walk with people dealing with constant sorrows\u2026 It\u2019s like a never-ending void you try to fill without understanding its nature\u2026 And that\u2019s the most terrible thing; accepting your condition, acknowledging the pain is rarely the issue, but that it is more often the shame of being so \u201cweak\u201d and \u201cunfitting\u201d that makes you even more unbearable to your own eyes\u2026 Until you accept it. Until you see yourself like someone who\u2019s partially blind. You need to trust what you can\u2019t fully discern. You need to develop new senses to keep going. You need to accept the bruises coming with it, the frustration of your affective defect. You despised the cane, the helping hands, the sympathy, and compassion feels like pity and charity. But acceptance leads you to keep going, hoping it will feel normal one day, that you will find a purpose for it all. You develop a new way to see, an instinct of your own. It doesn\u2019t heal the pain, but it\u2019s enough of an ease to slowly feed that long gone faith in better tomorrows once again\u2026 \u2028<\/p><p>Yes, one of my friends died, leaving behind more love than he was able to take in with him\u2026 The catastrophe would be for us to surrender that love to the temptation of hopelessness such devastation creates within us. Especially with the world presently in turmoil, we\u2019re all confronted to our own measure of disarray, and it too often takes the best out of us, dissolving the faith we had managed to keep for moments of uncertainties such as these\u2026 Is love the answer? Why wouldn\u2019t it be? Because it seems so easy to pretend? To fake it through? Knowing we\u2019ve become experts at plagiarizing its forms after being hurt so many times by its unfulfilled promises? But still, we nonetheless want to believe. Otherwise, what is there for any of us to long for? And just like acceptance allows us to see through our own darkness, love allows us to touch and to be touched in return. And I need to believe in its transformative nature, as much as I don\u2019t believe in my ability to see beyond my own confusion in times of sorrowful crisis. I know that acknowledging my need for others, despite how loud the words \u201cweak\u201d, \u201cshameful\u201d, \u201cunfit\u201d might resonate inside my head, exposes me as who I am\u2026 It\u2019s true, it\u2019s never easy to say goodbye. But again, I believe that honesty, more than my desire for absolute, is love beyond the mirror of my own faithlessness\u2026 Maybe there never was any mirror, after all, only my decision to accept that I can perceive what I may never be able to see\u2026 And in that, there is hope and comfort. Always.\u2028<\/p><p>Much love always,<\/p><p>AHF<\/p><p>PS: If you need to talk, if you feel depressed, lost, or if you are fighting with desperation and hopelessness, please don\u2019t hesitate to reach out, may it be to a friend or a stranger. There\u2019s no need to walk alone in the darkness, whatever the reasons we may have to do so\u2026 Trust me\u2026 I know!\u2028<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-593958a5 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"593958a5\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-6fb84aa5\" data-id=\"6fb84aa5\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3f43f589 elementor-widget elementor-widget-spacer\" data-id=\"3f43f589\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"spacer.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-spacer\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-spacer-inner\"><\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-2aec641e elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"2aec641e\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-47a4dad1\" data-id=\"47a4dad1\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-e99ba18 elementor-align-center elementor-widget elementor-widget-global elementor-global-153 elementor-widget-button\" data-id=\"e99ba18\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"button.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-button-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"elementor-button elementor-button-link elementor-size-xl\" href=\"https:\/\/alexhenryfoster.com\/journal\/ask-a-question\/\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-button-content-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-button-text\">Ask a Question<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s from my writing room, almost weightlessly standing in the middle of the luxuriant colors of the Highlands of Virginia, &#8230; <\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more-container\"><a title=\"Edition #7  There&#8217;s No Easy Way to Say Goodbye\" class=\"read-more button\" href=\"https:\/\/alexhenryfoster.com\/journal\/edition-7-theres-no-easy-way-to-say-goodbye\/#more-966\">Read more<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Edition #7 <br \/> There&#8217;s No Easy Way to Say Goodbye<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":987,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-966","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-from-a-stranger-to-another","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-50","no-featured-image-padding"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alexhenryfoster.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/966","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alexhenryfoster.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alexhenryfoster.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alexhenryfoster.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alexhenryfoster.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=966"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alexhenryfoster.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/966\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alexhenryfoster.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/987"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alexhenryfoster.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=966"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alexhenryfoster.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=966"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alexhenryfoster.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=966"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}