Hanna's voice: Grappling with acceptance
I do not come from the grieving type. We have stood at graves of beloveds who died of cancer, car crashes, murder. We didn’t grieve. We moved on. I google grief and see that it’s a process: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance. “F-that,” I say, slamming my laptop closed. “No time to be a sad sack.” Naively, I try to white-knuckle acceptance.
Hanna & Co. at Creative Mornings Pittsburgh
Every month, people in cities all over the world gather in person to talk about a common theme. These gatherings are what Creative Mornings is all about: free events that bring people together for meaningful conversation.
The theme for May 2023 was “Acceptance,” and Hanna was invited as the guest speaker for Creative Mornings Pittsburgh. Acceptance—a challenging theme for someone who has been diagnosed with ALS!
Hanna brings her usual frank honesty, joy of life, and invitation into the bigger story. She was assisted in this presentation by a group of friends: Tiffany “Ti” Wilhelm, Marc Rettig, Erika Johnson, Erika Kestenberg, Michelle King, and Seth Payne. The hosts of Creative Mornings Pittsburgh are Nathan Darity and Bridget Mullins.
It was quite a day. Watch the video below, and look below the video for a link to the text Hanna wrote in preparation for her talk.
CORRECTION: “Grief is praise”
Folks, at 4:23 in the video there is a mistake in the subtitles that we didn’t catch. And what Hanna really said is way more interesting than what you might get from the titles!
She doesn’t say, “Grief is spread.” She says, “”Grief is praise.” Then later, “I feel a lot of praise this morning, because….”
The idea that grief is praise comes from Martin Prechtel’s book, “The smell of rain on dust.” You can read a short piece from Prechtel on this idea here: Grief is Praise on the Daily Good site.
"Grief expressed out loud, whether in or out of character, unchoreographed and honest, for someone we have lost, or a country or home we have lost, is in itself the greatest praise we could ever give them. Grief is praise, because it is the natural way love honors what it misses."
READ HANNA’S TEXT
Hanna wrote this piece in preparation for this event. It is not a transcript of the video, though it is nearly that for the parts which were read by Hanna’s friends at the event.
Dear Hanna,
What an inspiration you are, at a time of so much fear and loathing in the world. And what a beautiful “table of friends” you have around you. I loved everything about your reading. Trust, especially, perhaps. God loves all life, there is nothing to fear (easy for me to say…).
Come back to Ireland, Hanna! Bring your kids, and anyone else you want. You have a room in this house always.
Jamesx
James, i’m so glad i get to see you in January! and thank you for your kind words and warm presence,