In 2O14, I lost my job . . .
I slipped into a profound depression triggered by this loss. As I spiraled down, I lost my faith, my emotional balance and ultimately all hope. My grip on reality was shaken and events that might be viewed as simple challenges to overcome by most people appeared to be portents of a catastrophic spiral into despair to me.
I almost didn’t survive.
Through the Providential intervention of a close friend I realized that I needed help for something that I was powerless to overcome on my own strength. The recovery took months and was marked by events and circumstances that proved to be milestones of progress.
In 2021 and in the midst of the pandemic, I saw the stress and confusion that burdened so many people. I empathized and began to relive and evaluate some of my struggles of 2014. I was reminded of the waypoints and milestones I had navigated, and I saw an opportunity to tell the story of my experience.
Each Rumination, Veil and Lament piece has its origin in an emotional, physical and spiritual aspect of my struggle, as well as how I could not deal with the events and circumstances that marked my 2014 experience. It was therapeutic to revisit that period of time. For me, these pieces tell a story of deep despair, but they also radiate a hope that I want to share as they depict the process of transformation that I experienced in surmounting the dark challenges that almost consumed me.
No matter what you are going through, there is a light at the end of the tunnel.