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.

Showing posts with label Stone. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Stone. Show all posts

Thursday, February 10, 2022

Colors of Our Heart



            

I found the heart-shaped, gray stone on the beach in Washington State. How did the vast waters of the Pacific Ocean carve a rock into a heart? And why? 

 

            The heart is an important image for the grief community because it speaks of the emotional connections we had with our loved one. We miss their presence, touch, and feeling their heartbeat when we held them close. So we notice the shape of hearts everywhere—in leaves, the pattern of rust on the head of a bolt, but especially when they appear in the clouds because those seem like a message to us from the Beyond.

 

Can we live so that all the colors of our heart are seen?