Suffering is long. How could I possibly gaze at all this seemingly endless suffering and not feel totally overwhelmed by it? Drowning is the only rational response to such a vast sea of sorrow. And so, there are times that I must turn away from it: when my eyes have to lower to the ground to be spared from the sight of so much suffering; when I can feel the heat of shame and flush in my cheeks and a dull aching throb in the empty sorrowful cavern of my chest; when I have had my fill. It is at these times that I need reminders of the simpler things. The little joys and pleasant moments that ease the burden of existence. The small joys that excuse the original sin, that haunt us. The connections, however faint, that act as a salve against the wound of mortality. | DS