Most people would rather deal with logic than with emotion, wouldn't you say?
Up until my brother's passing, I was always a bit rough around the edges-focused on a tough exterior that hardly allowed for much show of emotion-never wanting to show my cards but wanting to show the sincerity I so often fight for. My childhood also didn't allow for unnecessary tears as Dad would discourage, "crying doesn't help" and Mom would be easily aggravated if my brother or I cried in fear of her consequential lash, "I'll give you something to cry for". Sadness, as it was, had no room in our growing lives so we instead closely reached for each other; serving as a backbone for our lives together.
Losing my brother was a fear I always lived with and losing him to death was an intangible thought that would bring me to tears when I'd think about being alone without him. But I would never lose him to himself-he was much "too" of anything to lose.
There's something to be said about death and how quickly it robs our human space of allowance and control; life is a choice we have until we're left with one of two and then there's clearly no choice at all. My brother had a choice when he felt he had none and I am left with a choice to live or to die. Same choice, similar elements of grief and sorrow, different circumstances but same textbook versions of what control signifies.
Simply put, Charley crashed into himself and what he was feeling was clearly so tumultuous that he fought himself until he saw an end to his sight. I envision him in my mind, swinging and swinging and swinging, trying with all that he could muster to make contact with his inner beast, his inner sensitivity. Bashing with such force that he was sure he'd beaten all the fury, all the hopelessness, all the deception out of himself so that his exasperation was well worth the fight and he'd win. But maybe he did win and maybe his inner demon lost. Maybe his suicide was a feat he conquered.
Just as emotion fuels the bodies we house, closure is also natural motivation to have an answer. With an unexpected loss, closure is a therapeutic need that satisfies the spirit and the mind. My brother's suicide offers lack of closure and ensures the absolution of uncertainty. The only person who is certain of the emotional cause is him. If only preventing it were so simple. Tell me why and I'll dispel you of all reason. If only...
As a society we misunderstand emotion and misinterpret the forgiving need to feel...to feel loved, to reciprocate love, a desire to feel wanted and to be sincerely wanted, to feel important and to feel significant, to be understood and very seldom feared and finally to be loved unconditionally by some one person.
We are thrust into this world as naked and raw as God created but it should be our spiritual responsibility to live beyond the constraints of our human existences. Forget logic sometimes and feel.
I love you just the way you are.
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