Remember your personal demons should be afraid of you, because you are their home, their food, and as you heal, their executioner.
You cannot die of grief, though it feels as if you can. A heart does not actually break, though sometimes your chest aches as if it is breaking. Grief dims with time. It is the way of things. There comes a day when you smile again, and you feel like a traitor. How dare I feel happy. How dare I be glad in a world where my father is no more. And then you cry fresh tears, because you do not miss him as much as you once did, and giving up your grief is another kind of death.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Grief is a painful emotion that gradually lessens with time, making it difficult to reconcile moments of happiness after loss.
This quote expresses the deep complexities of dealing with grief and the emotional turmoil that comes with losing a loved one. It highlights the truth that while grief feels unbearable and intense, it eventually diminishes over time, leading to moments of happiness that can evoke guilt for having moved on. The speaker captures the conflicting feelings of remembering a lost loved one while trying to embrace life again, emphasizing that letting go of grief can feel like losing them all over again.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be shared at a memorial service to remind attendees of the healing nature of time.
More from Laurell K. Hamilton
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Flowers every night Blossom in the sky; Peace in the Infinite, At peace am I.
And I can't be running back and fourth forever between grief and high delight.
The highest honor that God can confer upon his children is the blood-red crown of martyrdom. The jewels of a Christian are his afflictions. The regalia of the kings that God has made, are their troubles, their sorrows, and their griefs. Griefs exalt us, and troubles lift us.
Mourning is one of the most profound human experiences that it is possible to have... The deep capacity to weep for the loss of a loved one and to continue to treasure the memory of that loss is one of our noblest human traits.
To be kind, honest and have positive thoughts; to forgive those who harm us and treat everyone as a friend; to help those who are suffering and never to consider ourselves superior to anyone else: even if this advice seems rather simplistic, make the effort of seeing whether by following it you can find greater happiness.
Seek not happiness too greedily and be not fearful of happiness.