Читать книгу Letters of Note: Grief - Группа авторов - Страница 8

INTRODUCTION

The book you now hold is a carefully curated collection of thirty-one letters, the earliest written in 45 BC, the most recent in 2019, from the pens and typewriters of novelists, spiritual leaders, activists, musicians, politicians, poets and everyday folk, sent from addresses in all corners of the globe.

Tying them all together is grief, an emotional process we are all destined to experience as we stumble blindly through life – for grief is our natural reaction to loss. It is the pit that forms in our stomach as a loved one walks away, or the paralysing wave of darkness that arrives just as someone dies. Grief can cause pain and tears, bring strange consolation or overwhelm. It can sometimes do all at once. We can grieve the loss of anyone or anything, be it a person, an animal, a job or a dream, and it is important to remind ourselves that there is no correct way to do so, for although grief is universal, it manifests differently for all. By its very nature, the grieving process is often lonely. Some people grieve in silence, either through choice or circumstance; others need to find a way to put their grief into words, to make sense somehow of the experience and translate it into a recognisable form. Maybe, just maybe, if it can be articulated, it can help us, in some way.

Over the years I have compiled many different collections of letters, on subjects ranging from Love to Art, from Music to Sex, from War to Dogs. It is no exaggeration to say that researching this particular volume, Grief, has been, all at once, the most heartbreaking, enlightening, fulfilling and rewarding of them all. To be able to read the words of those who have lost so much, and the words of those attempting to console, even a little, those who are grieving is something of an honour.

It is my hope that Letters of Note: Grief may act as another tool with which those of you who are suffering loss can ease your pain, by reminding you that you are not alone in your suffering, that there have been others out there and will be others again. Similar paths have been walked.

Shaun Usher

2020