Blackness, revisited

Oct 07, 2013 23:22

Three years ago I blogged about The Black Abyss. It's the unacknowledged chasm that lurks beneath every person's existence, the horrifying realization that the relative stability of the present is an illusion. That the people we love will never be truly safe. That malice, accident, acts of God or sheer blatant stupidity could strip away everything precious at any moment, and that we are too small and too powerless to do anything about it.

I glimpsed that chasm three years ago, when I was diagnosed with aggressive cancer. The blackness goes down and down, all the way down. It is a very scary place.

Today I read Myke Cole's post about his own, vastly more intense, encounter with that blackness. I am moved. And I am oddly comforted. Not that I'd wish for anyone to experience what he has experienced, but it is good to know that others have seen the black abyss, and found their own ways to move forward.

I am moving forward, as well. Cancer remains in remission, finances are stable, and life has settled into one of those pleasant and fulfilling lulls between storms.

There will be more storms. It is an utter certainty. But right now, I am not afraid of them.
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