Love After Love

LOVE AFTER LOVE 
by Derek Walcott




The time will come
When, with elation,
You will greet yourself arriving
At your own door, in your own mirror,
And each will smile at the other's welcome.


And say, sit here, Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine, Give bread, Give back your heart
To Itself, to the stranger who has loved you.


All your life, whom you ignored
For another, who knows you by heart,
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,


The photographs, the desperate notes,
Peel your image from the mirror,
Sit. Feast on your Life.

Addiction as a Spiritual Illness: Symptoms and Essence Experiences

In the previous blog Addiction as a Spiritual Illness we explored how our longing for connection with the Divine can take the form of an addiction. It is then helpful to consider some of the identifying feelings which are Red Flags and often indicate that an addiction may be active.

What Addiction and Spiritual Illness may feel like
Urgency
Distraction
Pain
Nervousness
Compulsion
Have to do it
Have to have it
Relief once action is taken

Possible remorse

Despairing
Lost
Highs and lows
Obsessive

False sense of pride
Scattered
Repetitive Thoughts
Unease

Worried

Anxious

Confusion

When we are in essence, we no longer experience the grasping or longing associated with addiction. Feelings of urgency and despair are replaced by a calm centeredness filled with Grace.

What Being in Essence may feel like

Centered

Peaceful
Calm
Sated
Content
Expansive
Happy
Loved and loving

Grace
Ease
Joyful
One with All
Surrendered
In the Flow
Quiet

Present in the Moment

Detached

Compassionate

Meditative

Focused

Without Need

Trusting