Sadness, Loss, and Redemption

Sadness is a dirty word to most of us. No one wants to be sad. In fact, we can go to great lengths to avoid sadness. We look for distractions - extra work, lots of TV, video games, alcohol and other substances, over-eating, over-shopping, and (put personal favorite distraction here). We adopt a sunny, ‘Can Do’ attitude and do our best to fake it until we make it. We keep other people or a pile of possessions around us obsessively to avoid alone time with sadness. We can retreat into sterile, Polyanna-style spirituality that keeps us distant from sadness by rigorously denying it in the guise of rising above it.