She is 97. With a beautiful heart, failing legs, and a mind that some would say is failing too.
I see it a little differently. I see a mind that has loosened its grip in a way we all desire. Letting go of anxiety, to do lists, the need for comparison, planning for the future, regret.
She’s my grandmother and she has dementia. It’s a condition caused by the gradual death of brain cells.
The space that has emerged is filled with humor, freedom, candidness, peace, pointed wisdom at times and an innate ability to be in the present.
There is also confusion, the sense of something not being quite right, and a loss of memories. For those who love her, there's a sadness when they aren't recognized. Yet we always have an intimate visit with my grandmother’s inner soul.
And in her moments of clarity, her most authentic self steps forward loving and appreciating this world. She now relaxes into daily gratitude. She trusts. She feels. She sleeps soundly. She accepts.
At this point, dementia has removed layers of the mind in my grandmother that bury the soul in all of us. Layers of thought, personality, memories that become our story, fear of the future.
It’s too early to say it’s a gift, but for sure it’s a lesson in what is pure . . . how beautiful an untethered heart and soul can be. And, no matter the age, when a soul bares itself, we must hold and love it with the same compassion we hold a child.
Today, maybe we try loosening the grip of our own mind. Let’s relax into the present, allow our emotions to surface freely, let go of self judgement, and rest in a space of trust.
I see it a little differently. I see a mind that has loosened its grip in a way we all desire. Letting go of anxiety, to do lists, the need for comparison, planning for the future, regret.
She’s my grandmother and she has dementia. It’s a condition caused by the gradual death of brain cells.
The space that has emerged is filled with humor, freedom, candidness, peace, pointed wisdom at times and an innate ability to be in the present.
There is also confusion, the sense of something not being quite right, and a loss of memories. For those who love her, there's a sadness when they aren't recognized. Yet we always have an intimate visit with my grandmother’s inner soul.
And in her moments of clarity, her most authentic self steps forward loving and appreciating this world. She now relaxes into daily gratitude. She trusts. She feels. She sleeps soundly. She accepts.
At this point, dementia has removed layers of the mind in my grandmother that bury the soul in all of us. Layers of thought, personality, memories that become our story, fear of the future.
It’s too early to say it’s a gift, but for sure it’s a lesson in what is pure . . . how beautiful an untethered heart and soul can be. And, no matter the age, when a soul bares itself, we must hold and love it with the same compassion we hold a child.
Today, maybe we try loosening the grip of our own mind. Let’s relax into the present, allow our emotions to surface freely, let go of self judgement, and rest in a space of trust.
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