So I'm meandering around the web last week and I go to the Mental Health Commission website. My eye caught the article and video for the Jack Project. This is an idea started in response to a family loosing their son Jack to suicide. Have I met Jack? No, I don't know anything about him. I watched the video and my gut reaction was, "this is wonderful". I know it might sound odd to feel that about this kind of project because I know what initiated the idea was a tragedy.
In a popular piece of writing called the Desiderata there is a line,
"Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune".
I've always liked that part because I sense an old wisdom in it: tragedy, in some form, is inevitable. The challenge is in how we respond to it. The last lines of the Desiderata are,
"With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy."
The families who start things like the Jack Project and ImagineTeam are among the many in the world who experience a tremendous personal loss. Part of their response however is to embrace life and to reach out to others. Okay so maybe I don't know Jack but if that's not beautiful I don't know what is.
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