Growth in Grief.

"In much wisdom is much grief"

In the first sentences of deep river, grief is introduced. At first I was taken aback and uncomfortable with the start of the novel. However, then I realized, that reaction was my own instant reaction to want to romanticize everything. We want everything to start and end happy, or "nice." But in raw, real, truth, are things always that way? Does every ending end well? Does every middle of a story even have a white carriage and a prince charming? or huge salaries and nice cars? No. Let's get real here, the middle of most stories is the time of a person's life where they might begin experiencing true pain, or true grief. In the last two years of my own life I have experienced the loss of 11 people I have known. 2 years ago began the middle of my story I have come to believe. You see, we are children and we grow and learn in an imaginative fantasy play world, then we grow older and learn to use our minds academically, and then when that is near its end (depending on how many degrees we choose to pursue these days) we then grow to use our hearts in new ways, ways of maturity, healing, and power. These grievances, trials, and tribulations shape our paths and stories and mature our minds and hearts. Therefore it is through the pain that we become those who we are currently striving to become.

Grief grows us.
through suffering comes wisdom, in our trials we are grown and taught, and through our growth we learn to persevere.

James 1:2.

Danielle Nicole.