Thank you you’re is absolutely inspiring. Coincidentally, my late wife was Olivia Graham, her father was Bill Graham and my great grandmother on my mother’s side was also named Graham. A synchronicity!
I lost my wife to suicide 6 years ago. I was managing well until February 2024. That’s when my sons and a close friend questioned my love for Olivia, my late wife and partner for nigh on 45 years. It sent me into a downward spiral of emotional trauma but it also set me off on a journey of discovery of exploring the meaning of Love, Life and Death. Below, is a synopsis of my thoughts on the subject.
I know that I have been somewhat of a nuisance to family and friends, sharing my poetry and philosophical ramblings but it was something that I felt compelled to do to support my sanity. I have suffered with sadness/ “depression” a number of times throughout my life and I found no solace in the traditional medicinal remedies. For me meditation, writing poetry, music, art, and philosophical insights and my practical woodworking skills have served me well but I may have shared too much with family and friends. For this I offer my sincere apologies.
I’d like to wrap up the grief and consign it to the past. For some reason I just can’t do it but will continue this journey without trying to annoy others
Philip Quigley
In this vast space that separates us, I find solace in writing, as if, somehow, my words could shorten the distance that surrounds us. As Borges said, “Time is a river that takes me away, but I am the river; it is a tiger that destroys me, but I am the tiger.” In this reflection I find a truth that applies to all relationships: although distance and time seem to tear me apart, I am both the river and the tiger, traveling the waters of love with a strength that neither time nor distance can annihilate. I have lost myself in my thoughts, wondering what would become of me without these moments in which I share my reflections on philosophy, literature, music,dance and life. In some corner of my mind, the relationship i cultivate reveals itself as a Platonic dialogue, one in which I seek not only the answers, but also the questions that bring us closer, that transform us. As Kierkegaard said, “Love is not a feeling, it is an action.” And in our distance, that action becomes present, renewing itself with each word, with each shared laugh, with each silence that fills us with complicity. Love,is an experience that transcends Cartesian reason, a bond that goes beyond the tangible, that infiltrates the invisible and the eternal. It is a love that does not fear contradictions, that is not limited to what can be touched, but is nourished by the intangible, by what does not need to be explained to exist. As Pascal understood well, “The heart has reasons that reason does not understand,” and my heart, knows without a doubt that, although our bodies are separated by distance, our souls remain unbreakably united in this shared space of thoughts and emotions In this distance, I see myself as an attentive reader, waiting for the next chapter of my story, a chapter that is not measured in physical distances or in counted minutes, but in the depth of the feelings and thoughts that we share. I know that, as Camus said, “Love is the rebellion against loneliness.” And my rebellion, is expressed in the beauty
Of nature and my true nature and Harmony with all beings is the key.
Thank you you’re is absolutely inspiring. Coincidentally, my late wife was Olivia Graham, her father was Bill Graham and my great grandmother on my mother’s side was also named Graham. A synchronicity!
Love it! Thank you for your interesting comments! God bless you
Love and Life
I lost my wife to suicide 6 years ago. I was managing well until February 2024. That’s when my sons and a close friend questioned my love for Olivia, my late wife and partner for nigh on 45 years. It sent me into a downward spiral of emotional trauma but it also set me off on a journey of discovery of exploring the meaning of Love, Life and Death. Below, is a synopsis of my thoughts on the subject.
I know that I have been somewhat of a nuisance to family and friends, sharing my poetry and philosophical ramblings but it was something that I felt compelled to do to support my sanity. I have suffered with sadness/ “depression” a number of times throughout my life and I found no solace in the traditional medicinal remedies. For me meditation, writing poetry, music, art, and philosophical insights and my practical woodworking skills have served me well but I may have shared too much with family and friends. For this I offer my sincere apologies.
I’d like to wrap up the grief and consign it to the past. For some reason I just can’t do it but will continue this journey without trying to annoy others
Philip Quigley
In this vast space that separates us, I find solace in writing, as if, somehow, my words could shorten the distance that surrounds us. As Borges said, “Time is a river that takes me away, but I am the river; it is a tiger that destroys me, but I am the tiger.” In this reflection I find a truth that applies to all relationships: although distance and time seem to tear me apart, I am both the river and the tiger, traveling the waters of love with a strength that neither time nor distance can annihilate. I have lost myself in my thoughts, wondering what would become of me without these moments in which I share my reflections on philosophy, literature, music,dance and life. In some corner of my mind, the relationship i cultivate reveals itself as a Platonic dialogue, one in which I seek not only the answers, but also the questions that bring us closer, that transform us. As Kierkegaard said, “Love is not a feeling, it is an action.” And in our distance, that action becomes present, renewing itself with each word, with each shared laugh, with each silence that fills us with complicity. Love,is an experience that transcends Cartesian reason, a bond that goes beyond the tangible, that infiltrates the invisible and the eternal. It is a love that does not fear contradictions, that is not limited to what can be touched, but is nourished by the intangible, by what does not need to be explained to exist. As Pascal understood well, “The heart has reasons that reason does not understand,” and my heart, knows without a doubt that, although our bodies are separated by distance, our souls remain unbreakably united in this shared space of thoughts and emotions In this distance, I see myself as an attentive reader, waiting for the next chapter of my story, a chapter that is not measured in physical distances or in counted minutes, but in the depth of the feelings and thoughts that we share. I know that, as Camus said, “Love is the rebellion against loneliness.” And my rebellion, is expressed in the beauty
Of nature and my true nature and Harmony with all beings is the key.