by Lori Deschene

“Never to suffer would never to have been blessed.” -Edgar Allen Poe

Though we have a say in how long and how painfully we suffer after a loss, pain is inevitable in life. To grieve the loss of something wonderful means to have been honored enough to know it.

It might be hard to see pain in this way when you’re knee deep in it–and you’re allowed to be as long as you need to be. But when you’re ready, know there is a deep, transformative peace that comes from appreciating what pain means: that you’re alive, you’ve known happiness, and you have the potential to know it again.

Photo by Rookuzz