LIFE CAN HOLD MORE THAN ONE THING

I’ve been reminded lately how rarely life gives us the luxury of feeling just one thing at a time.

We can be grieving and still laugh at something ridiculous. We can feel overwhelmed and incredibly grateful. We can know a change is necessary and still ache for what is being left behind.

Tomorrow is the anniversary of my mother’s death. And this year, it arrives during a season already filled with loss and transition.

What I keep noticing is how much can exist alongside each other.

Sadness and joy. Grief and gratitude. Exhaustion and hope. Holding on and letting go.

We tend to think one should replace the other. That once we’re healing, we should feel less sad. Once something good happens, we should feel happy. Once we’ve made the “right” decision, we should feel at peace with it.

But our bodies and hearts don’t work quite so neatly.

Nature doesn’t either.

September has always felt like a beautiful example of this. Summer is still here, but autumn has already begun whispering around the edges. The light is changing. Leaves are beginning their turn. One season doesn’t abruptly end so the next can begin.

For a while, they coexist.

Maybe we’re allowed to do that too.

We don’t have to resolve every difficult feeling before allowing ourselves to experience something beautiful.

We don’t have to wait until grief is gone to feel joy. And feeling joy doesn’t diminish the love behind our grief.

Our capacity to hold both may actually be part of what helps us heal.

There can be heaviness in your heart and still be room for light.

There can be uncertainty about what comes next and a deep knowing that you will find your way.

There can be endings and, somewhere among them, the quiet beginnings of something new.

Life can hold more than one thing.

So can we.