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the art of losing
Posted : 3 Nov, 2010 11:16 AM
There are so many things that we lose in this life: pieces of ourselves, objects, loved ones, time, money, purity. Sometimes, that which has been lost is restored. Other times, it's gone forever. Sometimes, these losses are blessings; other times, they become this deep sadness that we carry with us always.
One of my favourite poems is "One Art," by Elizabeth Bishop (see below). It draws out for me the various aspects of loss and how loss is rarely as disastrous as it may seem at first. Despite the drama that often surrounds loss, the pulse of life continues to beat; we flow along with it and we move on.
What have you lost?
Do you have a story of loss that is humourous (such as lost keys that you found in your makeup bag)?
Do you have a story of a loss that was redeemed?
Have you ever lost something that you discovered you were better of without?
Have you lost something that you're still grieving and that you'd like to talk about and share with us?
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"One Art" (Elizabeth Bishop)
The art of losing isn't hard to master;
so many things seem filled with the intent
to be lost that their loss is no disaster,
Lose something every day. Accept the fluster
of lost door keys, the hour badly spent.
The art of losing isn't hard to master.
Then practice losing farther, losing faster:
places, and names, and where it was you meant
to travel. None of these will bring disaster.
I lost my mother's watch. And look! my last, or
next-to-last, of three beloved houses went.
The art of losing isn't hard to master.
I lost two cities, lovely ones. And, vaster,
some realms I owned, two rivers, a continent.
I miss them, but it wasn't a disaster.
-- Even losing you (the joking voice, a gesture
I love) I shan't have lied. It's evident
the art of losing's not too hard to master
though it may look like (Write it!) a disaster.
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