Memory's Paroxysms

Grief, memory, longing, and ache are strange and untamed features of our subconscious. From time to time, we get seized by paroxysms of emotion, bouts of sadness as we think of those close to us we've lost or opportunities we've missed. The triggers might be small - the scent of a grandmother's garden or the picture of a grandfather - and they may even float beneath our consciousness. But I don't think its uncommon for us to feel waves of feelings from time to time. Why this happens, to what purpose our brains engage this, why evolution has created this, is mysterious. Do we let ourselves bathe in these emotions? Do we try to fight them because they are unproductive? It's strange to realize I know so little about the internal struggles we deal with after experiences of loss, trauma, and bereavement.