We all get a short ride in a long hearse!

“The nitrogen in our DNA, the calcium in our teeth, the iron in our blood, the carbon in our apple pies were made in the interiors of collapsing stars. We are made of starstuff.”

― Carl Sagan, astrobiologist

“…we are literally made of “star-dust.”

Jacque Cousteau, the famous underwater explorer, is credited with saying a lot of wise things about the importance of taking care of our oceans.  But I think his best quote is this: “The only reason we appreciate life is because, we all know, we are going to die!”

Fred O’Brien, my gentle, giant, grade seven teacher, told us that…not only us, but our desks, our chairs, the walls of our classroom, our school building and everything else…were made of atoms.

Carl Sagan, the astrobiologist, described how these atoms came from the carbon, helium, nitrogen and oxygen of exploding stars!  So, as he often said, we are literally made of “star-dust.”

This star-dust is made up of indestructible, rotating, vibrating, wave-particles of light!  These wave-particles can only change from a particle to a wave or a wave to a particle.  There are no other options.

This means I can’t really destroy anything…even that dangerous tree in my backyard I want to take down, before it falls on my house.  I can cut it down and cut it up. But, then it just looks different…a cut up tree. I can burn it. But then, I just get waves of heat and particles of ash…a different look again.  The heat dissipates everywhere but the ashes are still visible.

I can burn the ashes at a higher temperature and get more heat and less ashes.  I can keep doing this over, and over. But, all I will ever get is more heat and less ashes.  So, what I am really doing is transforming the tree into waves of heat and particles of matter.  So the tree don’t really die, it is transformed into another form of energy, either waves or particles.  The same with people like you and me… and, all the people you love.

“… she shows us how she specifically has gained through her losses.”

So, when I saw Nora McInerny’s TedTalk entitled,“We don’t ‘move on’ from grief, we move forward with it!” I was immediately curious. When I saw her humour and insights, it reminded me of clients who have transformed or moved through, their grief very quickly.  But, it happened when they looked for both sides of their loss, not just the pain but equally the pleasure.  Loss, without equal gain, is not possible in nature.

Nora’s wit and personal genius comes through as she shows us how she specifically has gained through her losses.  And, notice how she honours her deceased loved ones today in everything she does. So, instead of getting stuck with one sided illusions of a loss without a gain, she transforms and honours both sides in keeping with balance law of nature.

Watch her talk and see if you don’t agree.  It can transform your perception of loss and of grief.  And, if not, please let me know. And, if you have additional insights, I would love to hear them.

Be well…balanced!

“We are star stuff which has taken its destiny into its own hands.”

― Carl Sagan, astrobiologist