Morning Has Broken…

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Coming out of a debilitating period of depression peppered with anxiety and bi polar imbalances is a very slow process, it doesn’t happen in an instant, and things that most people would consider small moments in their everyday lives are monumental for someone who could barely breathe or walk across the floor. In the middle of my worst day I was so sick from not eating I was desperate to eat but I couldn’t move to get myself something. I finally did because my body was screaming for sustenance but walking across the floor was a leaden thing as if I had shackles on my ankles attached to bricks.  When I finally fed the dogs and made myself toast and eggs nothing had ever tasted so good but I don’t think I got up again for more than 2 hours when I finally had to use the bathroom.

So when I say that today I colored my hair and took my first shower in 3 days you can perhaps appreciate what a giant step was made toward wellness once again, or rather the welcoming of the dawn. When the sun starts to rise there is still darkness all around but the first rays of sun are a promise of so much more. Anyone who can’t sleep at night and is bubbling over with anxiety can tell you about the relief of the coming of dawn. Many can finally go to sleep at last, released from the shadowy blackness, having made it once again through a dark night of the soul, anchored once again by a ray of light.

There is so much piled up on my desk that needs to be done that it frightens me but I know that gingerly taking my first steps out of the morass of pain and the paralysis of depression I have been caught in if I am not careful I will rebound and it will be worse than the first time. Baby steps.

I want to thank all of you who read my last post and took the time to write loving supportive comments, and I can tell you that reading them helped me take the first small slow turn toward the light. That people take the time and show tremendous love and caring is humbling. I cannot thank you enough. You have helped me move through this sooner than I might have.

And I had written in the last post that I had even told my beloved daughter Rachel not to come this week. Her visit is the highlight of my week but I fear her coming and becoming upset or worried because of the shape I am in. She already has a full plate with her work and her family, but she is an angel and gentle and sweet and, not a small point, a psychologist, so while she works in a different venue than what I deal with she understands me better than most. She came, she brought me a wonderful dinner she had just made for her family, stir fries with tofu and pineapple over brown rice, and we sat and talked and snuggled with pugs. and watched tv and by the time she left I knew I had turned a corner and wouldn’t slide back again into total darkness, at least not this time.

 After being up awhile this morning a song came to me that I dearly love, a song that has helped pull me out of this dark place time and time again assuring me that if I could just hold on until “morning” came, all would be well. It was a song that came out in my youth by the man then called Cat Stevens. You know of course that it is “Morning Has Broken,” and I sang the first chorus again and again and again throughout the day…

“Morning has broken, like the first morning
Blackbird has spoken, like the first bird
Praise for the singing, praise for the morning
Praise for the springing fresh from the world.”

And that I am singing is a wonderful thing. Song has always been a great healer, since the dawn of time. Once I can get myself singing I am making huge leaps toward recovery.

It is Friday evening and the dogs and I have had our dinner, I watered my pot garden on the deck and some other areas of the garden while the dogs ambled about, and just walking around I drew in more key elements for healing and self care — movement, fresh air, the healing power of Nature, and the last rays of sun on this autumn day.

I am rereading the books now, the 0nes saved from the fire, of one of my very favorite writers, Gladys Taber. In her chapter on October in Stillmeadow Seasons she writes…

“Life renews itself , no matter how much we may suffer.”

And so it does, and it is this I have learned in my 60 years, and it is this very thing I hold close and dear and want to share with others who suffer, who are afraid, who are going through their own dark night of the soul. Life renews itself, and so can we. 

I am not 100% yet, but maybe as much as 70%, and that is just a marvelous thing. When I last wrote I was what I call flatlining meaning still here but not knowing how I would hold on. Flat. Feeling nothing but deep, dark desolation, but do you see my friends, 2 days later and I am well on the road to recovery. I have known people who took that last final step when, bless them, if they had had someone to sit with them and tell them they would make it, insist that they would, love and cherish them as so many of you have done for me, they too would likely have made it, or a good many would have.

Please do this. If you ever suspect that someone is in a very dark place do something about it. If you can’t reach them call someone who can. A life may be saved. Or pray. Anyone who doesn’t believe in the power of prayer will never find the torch it provides to light the way to grace. I know the power of prayer, I believe in it, and if all I can muster is “Please God, help me.” I do, and I know that it helps.

I wanted to write tonight to thank you, to reach out to you and hold your hands, and lean forward, my forehead touching yours for just a moment so that I could whisper Thank you… You are a star in the firmament of my life.

And know one more thing, if you are out there suffering, I am truly holding you close in my heart and prayers. I pray ongoing for those who, like me, suffer the kind of darkness which feels like it has no end. With my eyes closed I send them light and pray that they may feel it coming and hold onto it.

I am on my way. Praise for the singing, praise for the morning, praise for the springing fresh from the world…

Who will sing with me?

With Love,

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Comments

  1. So glad you made it thru, my friend. Haven’t been on here much. Still exhausted from the move and working every day. Last night after work I went to see Catherine and take her some tangerines and a sweet treat. She is doing so much better. Her angel DIL helped her get her disability papers filled out and mailed in, so she won’t lose her home. We had a 75 min visit then I came home and made dinner at 8, ate at 9, cleaned up then went to bed by 10. Didn’t sleep well, worked today on my day off, then went shopping, and just got home. Too tired to eat. Going to bed. First sending you love and light. Know that I think of you quite often and look forward to some time in the future when we can share some cozy friend time. Miss you. Sending love. NB

  2. When you wrote Rachel was coming, I was relieved, and reading this brightens my spirits tremendously. Being your truest, authentic self and sharing it with us is an incredible gift.

  3. the sun photo is glorious. what a great photographer and tinkerer with graphics you are. i admire your skill, over and over.
    yes, you are a graphic artist, a writer, a gardener, a mother, a spirit guide, a pug lover, a bird lover, a weaver, of light and dark, magic and transcendence, mystery and plain truth. you are just so damned loveable!!

    xo
    ka

  4. So glad you are feeling more positive. You have so many who convey such strong spiritual feelings. I am in awe. Keep striving and have faith in yourself.
    Love and blessings. Barbara

  5. There she is…. I can see you smiling. You may have a ways to go but you’ve come a very long way. Love is powerful medicine as is the power of prayer. Bless Rachel for coming to help you. You didn’t want to worry her but when you asked her not to come she knew she should be worried. She inherited your “compassion” gene. It is so good to see you on the mend. About all the stuff on your desk… you’ll get there. What does Leonie call is? Riding wild Donkeys??? something like that. Grab the first paper, deal with it, reward yourself with some of your delicious tea, then grab another, take a walk with the pugs, grab a piece…..etc. etc. In no time you’ll have it all worked through. xo

  6. Glad to read you have turned the corner. 🙂

  7. We are here for you. I may be in the UK but we are close. So hold tight and fly and all will be well. It does get better…… I know it does. Much love. Xxxxx

  8. Lauren Rose says

    Chère Maitri,
    glad that you have risen again with the Morn….luv that song by the ‘then’ Cat Stevens…sang it in my youth, must adapt it to my harp…thanks for the inspiration! Sitting with my lamp this morning in dark Paris…will be planting some rosebushes today to look forward to in the Spring. Take care of yourself! luv from Paris, xxxx

  9. Lauren Rose says

    oh, found ‘Morning has Broken’ in a harp book by Sylvia Woods, going to work on it this week…

  10. I am glad to read that you are feeling better <3
    Take your time and be gentle with yourself. I am happy that you are still here. I would miss your kind and honest voice.
    Sending you hugs from Switzerland, Corinna

  11. Yes, that’s often all it takes, that even just one person sincerely reach out to nurture and support us through difficult times so that we can once again turn toward that renewing light. May it be that every one of us has someone like that in our lives.

    Hugs to you Maitri. I love that Cat Stevens song too. It gives me goose bumps! I heard he is touring again; not sure what prompted him to come out of his very private life but will have to look it up.

    Joan

  12. Thank you for you post. It echos my feelings as I too emerge from a time of bipolar and depression. After years I have finally found a cocktail of drugs that works for me and I have entered a time of rest and healing. I have posted a link to your article on my blog as well- I hope it can be a source of light to many.

    http://creativelizzie.tumblr.com/post/100911742733/morning-has-broken

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