Who I am.

I write about the landscape of grief, nature, and the wisdom of fools. The author of four books, my essays, poems, and reviews have been published in over 50 journals, including in the Huffington Post and Colorado Review. I’ve won the River Teeth Nonfiction Book Award, the Chautauqua and Literal Latte’s essay prizes, and my work has been nominated for four Pushcart Prizes and named a notable by Best American Essays. My account of hiking in Yosemite to deal with my wife’s death, Mountains of Light, was published by the University of Nebraska Press. http://www.markliebenow.com.

Wednesday, May 31, 2017

Community of Compassion







When someone we love dies, we are left with great structures that are now hollow of life. Memories constantly avalanche down around us, and our dreams for what might have been lie scattered on the floor.

In our struggle to survive a death, we need a community to help us through grief. If left on our own, we would curl up in a corner until our hearts desiccated into a walnut. We need people to help us crack grief’s nuts open.

* If you would like to read the rest of this post, let me know and I’ll send it to you. *

2 comments:

  1. i read most of your weekly postsd...me and a good friend suffered major loses recently...so listen and love one another..im not as fortunate to have many available friend as we moved a few times before my husbands passage...so it has been very sad and loney for me at times...but im reconecting to old friends and making new ones...so times heals as well as kills

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    1. I've got to tell you, it still felt very lonely because, outside of my older friend, no one else knew what to say or do, so I had to feel my way through. And there wasn't much on the internet at that point, and I couldn't even find refuge there. I'm thankful that you have a good friend you can share with. Ha! Time heals as well as it kills. Sadly true. Unfortunately.

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