SPACES IN BETWEEN – DAWN

"Honor the space between no longer and not yet. - Nancy Levin"

Everything is temporary. Pain, joy, life itself; they all exist for just a short time and then pass away into something else. We so often want to cling to the past, or the good times, but we cannot. Neither can we keep waiting for some hoped-for day that may (or may not) come later.

It can be hard to be in the space in between. Especially if you are a child who is sick, or a mother who is witnessing her child’s distress.

As my son Yousef and I took on this amazing life challenge to confront his cancer, there were long hours when despair wanted to fill up all the space.

But I knew no matter how difficult, it would not – could not – last. Eventually dawn would come. Like the third day after Yousef’s first chemo, when he rose as if from a bad dream and said, “I feel good!” I was flooded with relief and disbelief! Just like that – he felt better. A terrible cloud had lifted and in a moment, everything was different. He wasn’t well, no. He had many more hard nights to endure. But for now, he was a little hungry. He felt “good.” It was enough.

Where you are now is temporary. Can you remind yourself of that?

It is true for all matter of things: emotions, physical pain, relationships. In nature, the seed exists in one form, then sprouts and for a time is growing, then dies off, all in a cycle of endless change.

In our cultures, things are built up, and then eventually, they collapse – some lasting longer than others.

Everything is always in transition, yet we mourn what is passing away, and fear what might be coming. How to honor the space between “no longer and not yet?“

I wish I could tell you that “this too shall pass,” and it would be enough. But you are holding a bedpan, or crying in shock or grief. You are keeping vigil beside a sick bed, or telling stories to a baby late into the night.

So I will say, Bless you, care-giver, carrier of the moon and the stars. You are not alone, and the dawn is coming.

Feel Hugged,

Helene