What it's like to be human
and thank you for showing up
Last week I was so encouraged to receive your messages throughout the day. I wasn’t prepared for the outpouring of compassion for the loss of my father, an experience that so many relate to even if there is variance in the particulars.
Grief, loss, and sadness are part of the human experience.
Thank you for showing up in this space. I hope my words showed up for you. Whether you come from a place of fresh grief or slow. The kind of loss that dances or lingers.
This week brought to mind the concept of relating: what it is about our experiences that make them relatable and stir something inside of us we may or may not have words for yet.
According to the online etymology dictionary:
relate (v.)
1520s, "to recount, tell," from French relater "refer, report" (14c.) and directly from Latin relatus, used as past participle of referre "bring back, bear back" (see refer), from re- "back, again" + lātus "borne, carried" (see oblate (n.)).(1)
There is so much about this word-history lesson that I could dig into here, but I’d like to point out how much we may be able to relate (said it again) to the idea of bringing back or carrying.
How many of us have borne the struggle of grief and when we hear another’s lament can immediately connect?
What is brought back from another’s experience is our own song. We remember together what it’s like to lose someone we love and what it’s like to be human.
In case you missed it, here is my post about the loss of my dad:
And in case you’d like something a bit lighter (I get it):
Sending all the love to you and yours throughout the week and thanks again for showing up. We are in this together.
(1) “Relate | Etymology, Origin and Meaning of Relate by Etymonline.” n.d. Www.etymonline.com. Accessed October 3, 2023. https://www.etymonline.com/word/relate.