Tuesday 1 March 2011

Feeling safe

©  Glendon Mellow 2011 click to enlarge.

Just before my son was born, I lost a dear friend and work colleague. I've been missing him everyday: we had a lot of common interests and even yesterday I find myself thinking for a fraction of a second, "I've got to talk to him about this!"  And I can't. Arthur, I miss you.

My colleagues at DeSerres, thanks for everyone being supportive of each other while we mourn our friend Arthur.

A few days ago, I thought I would reconnect with my childhood best friend. I have seen him around my neighbourhood: we grew up together in the east end, and are both now west enders. We're both dads now, and I thought it would be great to meet for coffee or something. I had a really happy childhood, and all of the best times were my friend and me on our bikes at the beach. I tried to find him online and discovered he passed away just over a year ago. I think of all we did together Gray, and I miss you.

Thanks to our mutual friend for letting me know what happened when I realized we both knew him; and thanks to his sister for allowing me to reach out in my grief about Gray.

Thanks to my wife Michelle for putting up with her basketcase of a husband who can't sleep. Painting the little piece above in the wee hours of the morning has helped a bit.

Last year I wrote about being an atheist insomniac. Reading the comments there again have helped a bit. Thanks also to those commenters.

Karen James's comment really helps me right now, so I thought I would share it for others:
We achieve a natural immortality through having existed, through having acted in this world and through our bodies being physically reabsorbed by the planet.
Like Alan Watts said, 'our fundamental self is not something just inside the skin', but our perceptions and, as Allston writes, the domino effects of our actions.

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Original artwork on The Flying Trilobite Copyright to Glendon Mellow

2 comments:

Unknown said...

We are all living on in the eternal after life that is Google. http://www.thechurchofgoogle.org/Scripture/Proof_Google_Is_God.html

Glendon Mellow said...

Funny stuff. Thanks Eric!

Google spelled diagonally is Skynet.

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