There Be Dragons
The story of a woman who fell off the edge of the world...
And how she found her way home.
Long ago, we believed the world was flat, and that when we sailed to the edge we would fall off.
There, waiting to devour us, would be dragons.
* * *
When my husband died suddenly during a simple surgery, I am the one who fell. Into an abyss of grief and loss, loneliness and fear. Tumbling and trembling with no seeming way out.
But slowly, through poetry and dance and endless tears offered to the ocean, I found my way to a new story, a different story. One I never could have imagined.
I am now ready to tell that tale.
We are the Treasure
Love Letter
Hello Dear One.
If you are here maybe you have tasted loss, your own version of it. The end of a relationship, the loss of a home, a dream that has died, or the ferocious loss of a beloved that blindsides you, leaving you forever changed.
Perhaps you’re standing at the edge.
Perhaps you’ve fallen off and you wonder how you will survive.
Perhaps you are finding your way to a new becoming.
Through all the unknown, perhaps this story can be a compass.
* * *
On May 8, 2017, my husband of 26 years went in for a simple surgery and never came home.
That day changed the trajectory of my life. As I travelled each painful step forward without him, the biggest lesson I learned was I had to do it in my own way and in my own time.
Today, I can claim joy, delight, renewed purpose. Yet there are days I still miss him.
That brings me to this book, “There Be Dragons.” I started writing it the day he died, and I am still writing it. It is a weaving of poetry, personal story, and metaphor to remind us that even when everything falls apart, we are still held. And that even from the farthest edge… there is a way home.
But beyond the book, I imagine more.
I want to share this journey with fellow travelers as it is being created. Share it with those who would understand.
- Because we don’t talk about grief. Acknowledge it. Honor it. And we need a safe space to do so.
- Because having been so utterly devastated by my own grief, I never could have imagined something different. And I want to share that hope, that comfort with you as you make your way.
- Because I now understand loss and healing in a completely different way. And I want to hold space for an experience that is uniquely yours.
- And maybe, because I remember being a child, when it was so easy. When we could just call out to each other, “Come here. Look at this!” When we didn’t have to feel so alone.
So, as I bring this book into being, I am also going to send out Monday Musings; sweet offerings from the writing desk, filled with truth, tenderness, and the wild terrain of traveling home.
I hope you will join me as we navigate the good days, the hard days, the days we can laugh and the days we can’t leave the bed.
Remembering all of it is allowed. All of it is ok.
And though there may be dragons… We are the treasure worth seeking.
With Love.
Marianne
Invitation to Monday Musings
Though each of us must find our unique way through the dark lands, we do not have to travel unsupported. May the Monday Musings offer you comfort, hope, courage, compassion, joy, and the reminder that you are not alone.
Let these musings be the sweet whisper of a song, a hand that holds yours, breadcrumbs through the dark woods.
If this feels like a welcome and you’d like to receive the Musings, please join me.