(Painting by Kahlil Gibran, author of the poem "The Prophet")
I have to be honest, this is a very challenging post for me to write because I am writing it during a time in my life when I am experiencing intense emotional pain due to the ending of an intimate relationship with someone whom I care about deeply. Coincidentally, the ending of this relationship is meaningfully connected, in my eyes, to Kahlil Gibran's poem "The Prophet" which I talked about in my previous post. Though I feel so much pain from having to say goodbye to this person I love, the deep, intimate meaning I see in the budding, blossoming, unfolding, and eventual ending of our relationship is like a "gift" that is helping me to heal and move on.
In my previous post I shared the beautiful way in which the poem "The Prophet" came into my life. It truly is one of the most amazing gifts I've ever received for how it helps me to "see" my humanness and gain deeper perspectives as I explore the seas of Life.
The night that I discovered this book at my Grandma Dorie's house near the end of November 2013 was a very mystical moment in my life. I could sense there was a tremendous depth of meaning in connection with this book that was just waiting to be revealed. The morning following its discovery, I asked my Grandma how this book came into her life and what it means to her. She shared with me that this book used to belong to her dad, my Great Grandpa Sumner Sabean, who was also a huge lover of poetry. She said that her dad had given this book to her during a time in her life when she had broken up with a lover and was deeply grieving the loss of their relationship. My Great Grandpa felt that this poem could help her to gain perspective on the loss, help her heart to heal, thereby helping her to move on. My Grandma said that at the time, however, she didn't really understand how this poem could help her so she didn't pay much attention, if any, to its meaningfulness. I can understand why at this time in her life she didn't see much value in reading this or any poem in an effort to help her grieve and move on from breaking up with someone. There was a time in my life when I wasn't aware of the true healing power of poetry either. It took awhile and the experiences of some pretty difficult lessons in life for my eyes to open to be able to see poetry's beautiful healing power. The same might be true for my Grandma because I know that she now sees the beauty and power inherent in poetry.
As I am flooded with the memory of when this poem book so meaningfully entered my life, I can't help feeling completely awed by the fact that the memory my Grandma Dorie shared with me about my Great Grandpa Sabean giving her this book and his intent behind doing so acts like a symbolic reflection of a foreshadowing for what I would someday experience with someone I love about two and half years later, while on the ocean, on a cruise to Alaska. The meaning of all of this goes so deep which, ultimately, inspires me to go deeper within myself to understand my pain as well as my joy in connection with the experience of my most recent intimate relationship. I will dive deeper into more of the meaning I see in this beautiful poem in a later post.
To be continued...
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