Forget the Cattle Prod

From the Brady Tarot, Death; from the Holitzka I Ching, Hexagram 9:

No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear. ~C.S. Lewis

          A human skull sits on top of the earth; below the soil is the bones of a saber-tooth tiger and a dinosaur. Personal loss and endings come to everyone. It is impossible to cement perfect circumstances so that they never change or pass away. Impermanence and grief are just as natural as new beginnings and joy, but we tend to fear the former and welcome the latter. Yet when we exhaust our anger, take off the blinders of denial, and crawl out of the depths of despair, we find acceptance and a new chapter ready to be written. Hexagram 9 is known as Small Restraint, the power of gentleness that can soothe while also encourage. This is not the 'pull yourself up by your bootstraps' or 'put on your big girl panties' approach, but one that is tender and compassionate. A bulldozer strategy doesn't help people who feel like they are as raw as a peeled tomato. Sometimes people need a hand to hold, not a cattle prod to get them moving.