Through depression and into sorrow

So much of what gets diagnosed and called "depression" in our modern society is really a disguise for sorrow. Sorrow is the emotion we feel when we experience loss. It is normal. It is appropriate. It is not pathological. It is not abnormal. It is not a psychiatric disorder. Sorrow is part of our human existence.

The more we love, and the more attached and bonded we are, the more sorrowful we will feel when we loose the love object. Our sorrow is a testament to the significance  and importance of that which we have lost.

Depression leaves us listless, uninterested in life, perhaps even wishing to end life, but sorrow is a rich diamond mine of cherished memories and rich experiences which honor relationships developed in a life well worth having been lived.

The challenge in our modern culture is to go right through the depression - forget the antidepressants- and go right into the sorrow. It is in sitting with it, observing it, relishing it, as painful and awful as it is , that we touch the deepest part of our humanity, of our souls.

Grief, sadness, and sorrow require understanding, consoling and comforting. It requires crying tears of sadness and shoulders to cry on. It requires a willingness to sit in the heart of darkness until it lifts and the sun appears once again.