Antidote to Loneliness

During my week alone I cleaned and sorted and filed all kinds of things and came upon this poem that our Uncle Ed had saved among his papers.He lived alone for 20 years - more  even.Ever since 1991, when his beloved wife Fran had to go into a nursing home with her Alzheimer's, and then for the 12 years after she died and before he followed her into death this past April.I remember sending him it.My daughter had sent it to me.Between me and other family members, we saw him four days a week but I suspect the other days were long indeed.I hope that it comforted him and that he believed its message. Anyway here it is.It's called 'Everything is Waiting for You' and it's by David Whyte.

Your great mistake is to act the dramaas if you were alone. As if lifewere a progressive and cunning crimewith no witness to the tiny hiddentransgressions. To feel abandoned is to denythe intimacy of your surroundings. Surely,even you, at times, have felt the grand array;the swelling presence, and the chorus, crowdingout your solo voice. You must notethe way the soap dish enables you,or the window latch grants you freedom.Alertness is the hidden discipline of familiarity.The stairs are your mentor of thingsto come, the doors have always been thereto frighten you and invite you,and the tiny speaker in the phoneis your dream-ladder to divinity.Put down the weight of your aloneness and ease intothe conversation. The kettle is singingeven as it pours you a drink, the cooking potshave left their arrogant aloofness andseen the good in you at last. All the birdsand creatures of the world are unutterablythemselves. Everything is waiting for you.