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Old wise woman sits calmly in her rocker, weaving the collective memory of
taking all the color of her life. She is white, a vessel, the roots extend from her
chest bleeding all her color.
She is old, old, not in years but in wisdom, a woman who carries within her the
memories of her ancestors, of her family's collective unconscious inscribed in
her genes. Stories passed from generations, evidence of lives lived and now
no more than a dream, real or unreal.
The memories she holds on to are not of significant accomplishments of
individuals but rather the everyday evidences of their lives encoded in a cup, a
doll, a cobblers knife, a lantern and on and on in all the things that remind her
of them, a token that says they existed.
Now she is aware of her own passing to come. Will anyone know her story,
that she lived, or shall she be forgotten when her children are gone? Is it
important that her life be remembered - valued by others? She is beginning to
see that it is not.
Her life is only meant to be her life - important for the purpose of her own
soul's journey. It may have meaning for others but that is not her primary
purpose for living.
As she weaves the roots of her family and the memories that reside in her
heart she feels the heaviness of trying to keep them all alive.
So, she begins to give up the burden of keeping her ancestors, her roots alive.
She needs not prove their lives had worth. They know that themselves. She
lets go of the past, the pain of it as well as the pleasure.
She lets go then and the place within her heart becomes light -- and she can
breathe. If she were to hold on she would die, not physical death but the death
of her spirit.
Her ancestors say to her, "Old Wise Woman, it is time to let us go, time for you
to be free. Your soul has been rooted deeply in hanging on to our many, many
lives. Your living has been about the state of earthly survival but it is now
time your living be a state of spiritual bliss. It is possible!
LET GO and you shall truly live."
It scares her! All the things she has loved, that identified who she was, her
likes, her way. Now give them away? Who then will she be?
She shall discover.......
.
taking all the color of her life. She is white, a vessel, the roots extend from her
chest bleeding all her color.
She is old, old, not in years but in wisdom, a woman who carries within her the
memories of her ancestors, of her family's collective unconscious inscribed in
her genes. Stories passed from generations, evidence of lives lived and now
no more than a dream, real or unreal.
The memories she holds on to are not of significant accomplishments of
individuals but rather the everyday evidences of their lives encoded in a cup, a
doll, a cobblers knife, a lantern and on and on in all the things that remind her
of them, a token that says they existed.
Now she is aware of her own passing to come. Will anyone know her story,
that she lived, or shall she be forgotten when her children are gone? Is it
important that her life be remembered - valued by others? She is beginning to
see that it is not.
Her life is only meant to be her life - important for the purpose of her own
soul's journey. It may have meaning for others but that is not her primary
purpose for living.
As she weaves the roots of her family and the memories that reside in her
heart she feels the heaviness of trying to keep them all alive.
So, she begins to give up the burden of keeping her ancestors, her roots alive.
She needs not prove their lives had worth. They know that themselves. She
lets go of the past, the pain of it as well as the pleasure.
She lets go then and the place within her heart becomes light -- and she can
breathe. If she were to hold on she would die, not physical death but the death
of her spirit.
Her ancestors say to her, "Old Wise Woman, it is time to let us go, time for you
to be free. Your soul has been rooted deeply in hanging on to our many, many
lives. Your living has been about the state of earthly survival but it is now
time your living be a state of spiritual bliss. It is possible!
LET GO and you shall truly live."
It scares her! All the things she has loved, that identified who she was, her
likes, her way. Now give them away? Who then will she be?
She shall discover.......
.
LETTING GO OF HANGING ON
1993
Enduring cancer treatment while dealing
with the deaths of my mother and father
with the deaths of my mother and father
and working as a State Licensed
Professional Counselor and Art Therapist
1993
Enduring cancer treatment while dealing
with the deaths of my mother and father
with the deaths of my mother and father
and working as a State Licensed
Professional Counselor and Art Therapist
John received a Distinguished Professor Emeritus
from Michigan State University's Colleges of
Medicine for service from 1979-1995. During that
time he also received a distinguished Faculty
individual and collective ways to live fully.
Before his untimely death due to complications from
a fall, John had just completed the third edition of
"Finding My Way - From Trauma to Transformation:
Press, 2011), representing a culmination of his
lifelong commitment to address grief holistically and
validate each unique grief journey including his
own. Finding My Way is available at
www.amazom.com/books.www.amazon.com/books,
Finding My Way - John Schneider
He deeply loved his family knowing intimately that
grief's journey is a powerful teacher of what is truly
to be cherished in our lifetime.
LETTING GO OF HANGING ON
1993
1993
My special thanks to John Schneider, my frind,
and clinical colleague, for his support of me
during my encounter with cancer. John was an
inspiration to my clinical and spiritual work with
grief, death and dying and inspired my arts
therapy creations.
and clinical colleague, for his support of me
during my encounter with cancer. John was an
inspiration to my clinical and spiritual work with
grief, death and dying and inspired my arts
therapy creations.