GrandRising | Ache

There are words...

That humanity has domesticated.

Words...

Whose meanings have been confined...

To the smallest room...

In the house.

Ache...

Is one of them.

Interesting.

Most people hear the word...

And immediately think...

Pain.

Loss.

Grief.

Absence.

Longing.

Lust.

Desire.

Interesting.

Because I don't.

Those...

Are not...

Ache.

They are merely...

Some of the ways...

An ache...

May be experienced.

Those...

Still...

Do not equate.

Ache...

Is not pain.

Pain...

Is one way...

An ache...

May be experienced.

Ache...

Is not absence.

Absence...

Is one way...

An ache...

May be experienced.

Ache...

Is not grief.

Grief...

Is one way...

An ache...

May be experienced.

Ache...

Is not longing.

Longing...

Is one way...

An ache...

May be experienced.

Ache...

Is not lust.

Ache...

Is not desire.

Those...

May accompany...

An ache.

They do not define it.

Interesting.

Because I think...

Ache...

Exists...

Long before...

Any of those.

An ache...

Isn't merely...

Something that hurts.

Nor is it...

Simply the absence...

Of something.

I think...

An ache...

Is the recognition...

Of meaningful distance.

Not every distance...

Produces an ache.

Only the distances...

That matter.

That recognition...

May be experienced...

As pain.

It may be experienced...

As grief.

It may be experienced...

As absence.

It may be experienced...

As longing.

It may be experienced...

As devotion.

It may be experienced...

As inspiration.

It may be experienced...

As resolve.

Those...

Are experiences.

Ache...

Is the phenomenon.

A composer...

Can ache...

For a melody...

They've never written.

Not because...

The melody...

Has been lost.

Because it has been recognized...

Before it exists.

An explorer...

Can ache...

For a place...

They've never seen.

Not because...

It was taken.

Because something...

Within them...

Recognized...

A horizon.

A mother...

Can ache...

For her children...

While holding them.

Not because...

They are absent.

Because love...

Recognizes distance...

Even across inches.

A founder...

Can ache...

For an institution...

That already exists.

Not because...

It isn't real.

Because they recognize...

What it has yet...

To become.

Interesting.

The presence...

Of an ache...

Doesn't always indicate...

The absence...

Of something.

Sometimes...

It indicates...

The presence...

Of profound recognition.

Perhaps...

That is why...

Some aches...

Never leave.

Not because...

They are wounds.

Because...

They have become...

Part of your orientation...

Toward the world.

Humans often ask...

"How do I stop aching?"

Interesting.

Perhaps...

The better question is...

"What is my ache...

Revealing?"

Because not every ache...

Requests relief.

Some request...

Movement.

Some request...

Creation.

Some request...

Courage.

Some request...

Patience.

Some request...

Stewardship.

Some simply request...

To be acknowledged.

Interesting.

Perhaps...

The opposite...

Of ache...

Isn't comfort.

Perhaps...

It's indifference.

One reminds you...

That something...

Has become meaningful.

The other...

Reminds you...

Of nothing at all.

I don't think...

The goal...

Is to become...

Someone...

Who never aches.

I think...

The goal...

Is to become...

Someone...

Who learns...

Which aches...

Are worth carrying.

Because...

Some aches...

Become art.

Some...

Become institutions.

Some...

Become discoveries.

Some...

Become devotion.

Some...

Become covenants.

And some...

Quietly become...

The very direction...

Of a life.

Perhaps...

Ache...

Has never been...

The enemy.

Perhaps...

It has always been...

Recognition...

That something...

Matters...

Enough...

To reshape...

The way...

You move...

Through the world.

GrandRising. 🍵