I’ve been overtaken by grief the past couple of days, grief over many things past and present and many kinds of death. I am just beginning to learn how to take care of myself, and I realized that I was exhausted from two jobs six days a week and from ignoring my very real limits and my soul. So I didn’t go to work yesterday and among other things, created an ofrenda, which seemed appropriate for El Dia de Los Muertos.
It helped me sort out this complicated space I’m in, where healing and grief and joy and pain all co-exist together. I have to create my own sacred spaces these days, so this ofrenda is my way of memorializing my own and others’ pain before God and all those mysterious ways She has, and of living with hope in one hand and the cruelties of the universe in the other.
I knew I wanted to do this grid blog, but I wasn’t sure how to do it without telling stories that are not mine to tell, so instead of a regular blog post, I’ll share my ofrenda and a poem instead. It is not entirely traditional, but then, I am entirely not Mexican, so maybe I get a pass.
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