A couple of years ago, an anonymous letter came to Communicating Across Boundaries. The letter began like this:
It just doesn't go away....
The writer goes on to speak of an unsettled weariness and dissatisfaction, a boredom with life in one's passport country. " I'm afraid I may have a chronic case of ennui. Most of the time the symptoms lie dormant but occasionally-when my routines are disturbed, when life is a little off kilter, when friends are traveling, -they flare up, these "feeling(s) of weariness and dissatisfaction: boredom."
The letter appeals to readers at Communicating Across Boundaries, asking for their help and advice. "Can you help me?" says the writer. Can you help me with this "... hard to shake thing that lingers inside me-this grief-adrenaline withdrawal-unsettled-restlessness at work in my soul."
The answers to the letter were kind and thoughtful. Above all - they were wise.I've included some of those responses below in case there are others who just can't shake that feeling of not settling in the places we are supposed to call home.
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"There is nothing that can replace the absence of someone (or some place) dear to us, and one should not attempt to do so.
One must simply hold out and endure it.At first that sounds very hard, but at the same time it is also a great comfort.
For to the extent the emptiness truly remains unfilled one remains connected to the
other person through it.
It is wrong to say that God fills the emptiness. God in no way fills it but much more
leaves it precisely unfilled and thus helps us preserve - even in pain - the authentic
relationship.
Further more, the more beautiful and full the remembrances, the more difficult the
separation.
But gratitude transforms the torment of memory into silent joy. One bears what was lovely in the past not as a thorn but as a precious gift deep within, a hidden treasure of which one can always be certain." Dietrich Bonhoeffer as offered by Bettie Addleton.
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"I can feel this thing she is talking about in my own heart as I read this letter. Sometimes it feels like a heavy, numbing complacency and sometimes like a boiling frustration, or a deep, dark pit of sadness. I call my own by many names: sometimes loss, sometimes darkness, sometimes just an unsettled spirit. I tell myself over and over to "be still". But usually I accept it as an uncomfortable advantage that I know deep within me that this is not my home and that I long for something more, something so much more fulfilling, so much deeper, so much brighter, so much better, a real and honest home, a place to belong....I think I've just come to accept it and allow it to exist. Not let it take over, not let it pull me under (when I can). I just nod at it in the corner, acknowledge that it is there, and then take deep breaths, smile at someone, sometimes let some pressure out with tears, and keep moving forward knowing that one day it will not sit in that corner anymore.Art helps. Beauty helps. Poetry, paintings, sunsets, songs, laughter." Maia Manchester_______________________
The Portuguese word 'Saudade' also comes to mind along with ennui. I experience some of those same feelings. There is a longing in me to bring all the pieces of this mobile life tapestry together for a sense of wholeness, NOW, that is actually impossible in our time/space continuum. How often do I feel out of round? Too much for comfort. But the hope that there is more; completeness, integrality, lasting joy beyond the current fabric of our existence is a golden lifeline- an anchor for my soul.To me, this feeling is the result of the accumulation of all the places and people I gave my heart to in my childhood of travel, but which I either can't see now, or can only visit very occasionally...it is a build-up of losses (even though they were all joys before)-some of which are permanent losses.
Growing up between US and Kenya and then living in US and Asia, I sometimes think of that dissatisfaction as a curse and sometimes as a gift. The curse is that it sneaks in to the best of times like family reunions with food, stories, laughter, play and unconditional acceptance. That 'thick sadness' lurks at the edges that 'this will not last' and it will hurt when we go our disparate ways. At other times the curse is to observe situations as a perpetual outsider, finding it difficult just to 'enter in'. And then there is the sorrow over the losses. Even when the Acceptance target of grief processing has been seemingly been hit, 'Mission accomplished, sir!' I find that triggers can throw me back into the grief process. It hurts and saps energy. The gift for me is knowing that life is full and there is a spectrum of Joy and Pain. No banality exists when I can fully feel. Another is that being discontent can launch me into caring for others. If I can feel it, I can empathize with you. And I am reminded that this world is not my final home- that seems clear as I observe my own brokenness and that of the world around me- if we are broken, there must be something better that we are longing for, else how would we even imagine that? Some strategies as I look to 'the best that is to come' are For me it is choosing: working towards that better picture to the best of my abilities, to choose love over fear, faith over pride and hope over despair.Those people have gone or the places have changed, some because of war and destruction. Also there is the simple fact that I cannot be in multiple places at the same time. And so every current happiness has a tinge of sadness. Il y quelque chose qui manque...a little bit of grief that gnaws away at every happiness. I also found it got strongest during the couple of years when I realized I had spent more time now in my "home" country than in any other place, and yet still did not feel at home. I wish I could say it is cured, but it does diminish a bit, as I make more connections here and as I lower my expectations of travel. Finding a friend who has somewhat the same background would be a great help I feel too. And finally, it is one of the reasons I hang onto "the hope of glory" because surely in heaven we will feel completely at home and we'll be at once with so many loved ones too. - Mauareen
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to embrace the story of who I am and where I come from - which may mean digging into it,even in the dark corners and closed boxes
- to be grateful, daily
- to serve others in their difficulties and challenges
- to care as well as I can for myself- sleep, exercise, diet, reading, prayer etc. (I think TCK/global nomad types need to take depression seriously!)
- to get help when I need it - the doctor, counselor, coach, listening friend (I hear my wife saying my theory is better than my practice but I'm improving, I think :)
- to embrace the story of who I am and where I come from, (which may mean digging into it, even in the dark corners and closed boxes) and to find others who resonate with that story and then feel open to sharing theirs. - Mike Pollock
Readers - what would you add? What helps you? Thank you for sharing!