Dian, one of our kindred spirits, sent me this message and I wanted to pass it on to you. Carla Jo was facing breast cancer, choosing to receive no treatment and focus on the time she had left. A brave soul, with wings now…
“I was thinking about Carla Jo tonight and thought I’d check her site and see how she was doing. Sadly it looks as if she passed May 11th. I found this poem on her site and thought it was quite beautiful. Funny I feel as if I lost a friend and we never met I just read her story as a member of this community. Sounds as if she was a wonderful person.”
The Journey
by David Whyte
Above the mountains
the geese turn into
the light again
Painting their
black silhouettes
on an open sky.
Sometimes everything
has to be
inscribed across
the heavens
so you can find
the one line
already written
inside you.
Sometimes it takes
a great sky
to find that
small, bright
and indescribable
wedge of freedom
in your own heart.
Sometimes with
the bones of the black
sticks left when the fire
has gone out
someone has written
something new
in the ashes of your life.
You are not leaving.
You are arriving.
I understand Dian’s feelings of losing a friend, a friend you hadn’t even met yet. Sometimes we hear of someone in passing, or in this instance, here on this site, and you feel their spirit. And yes, even through cyber-space you can feel Spirit when it moves, when it touches your heart, when it resonates with a familiarity that makes you say, “I get what she’s taking about”. I admired Carla Jo’s spirit. It was a strong one, one that refused to be medicated to the point of being dulled and unaware. I believe she embraced death, not as a fearful thing, but as a transition, one that was faced with as much openness and integrity as possible. We are all on a path, and this path doesn’t always have to lead to heath and wellness to be a true spiritual path. Death is not the end. No. It’s the springboard to greater awareness and clarity.
Peace on your precious heart Carla Jo….may your wings carry you lightly, and above all, with joy unfettered!
A week of passings….
The passing of a celebrity usually makes me stop for a moment and say, Aww, that’s too bad”, but the passing of Farrah, although expected, was something that has made me ponder and appreciate the strength of the woman. The crush of celebrity, the hype (especially with who is taking over the news now….and I wish him peace as well), is not something I look to for inspiration….but Farrah, she made us all privy to her struggle, and if you had the courage to watch her documentary, then I hope you were as moved by her story as I was. She grew into a crone in spite of herself. She was far more then her name, or the hair and teeth, for she grew beyond all that into a real and raw, but beautifully strong woman. I always want to honor the crone spirit in any woman, whoever she is, for take away the name and she becomes one of us. May we all be so brave and strong….
Peace on all who have passed this week, famous or otherwise….we are all one.
A week of passings….
The passing of a celebrity usually makes me stop for a moment and say, “Aww, that’s too bad”, but the passing of Farrah, although expected, was something that has made me ponder and appreciate the strength of the woman. The crush of celebrity, the hype (especially with who is taking over the news now….and I wish him peace as well), is not something I look to for inspiration….but Farrah, she made us all privy to her struggle, and if you had the courage to watch her documentary, then I hope you were as moved by her story as I was. She grew into a crone in spite of herself. She was far more then her name, or the hair and teeth, for she grew beyond all that into a real and raw, but beautifully strong woman. I always want to honor the crone spirit in any woman, whoever she is, for take away the name and she becomes one of us. May we all be so brave and strong….
Peace on all who have passed this week, famous or otherwise….we are all one.