The World Will Break Your Heart. Grief might be, in some ways, the long aftermath of love, the internal work of knowing, holding, more fully valuing what we have lost.
Mark DotyHere and gone. Thatโs what it is to be human, I thinkโto be both someone and no one at once, to hold a particular identity in the world (our names, our place of origins, our family and affectional ties) and to feel that solid set of ties also capable of dissolution, slipping away, as we become moments of attention.
Mark Doty...in the face of all dangers, in what may seem a godless region, we move forward through the agencies of love and art.
Mark DotyTo choose to live with a dog is to agree to participate in a long process of interpretation, a mutual agreement though the human being holds most of the cards.
Mark DotyGrief does not seem to me to be a choice. Whether or not you think grief has value, you will lose what matters to you. The world will break your heart. So I think weโd better look at what grief might offer us. Itโs like what Rilke says about self-doubt: it is not going to go away, and therefore you need to think about how it might become your ally.
Mark Doty