Across the spring meadow, Forget-Me-Not flowers bring sweet reminders of vital etiquette and scheduling I have neglected. In the grip of a pain winter, thieving shadows creep across a bitter calendar landscape. These are the major aspects of Everyday Living I tend to forget for my planner life.

When I am homebound, my social skills can wane, and my opportunities grow limited. I miss celebrating victories, commiserating about woes, and building a cohesive story with those I love. In the past, I have tried these easy, low-cost ways to make social support knots.

Pain asks me to “do something.” I wanted to learn how these figurative demands affect my Everyday Living. So, I created a new topic in my commonplace book: my pain metaphor.

If I could not participate in grief’s meaning making, I would feel impaired in a desolate terrain. However, grief can send me into a perilous Wonderland, waiting to wake from Alice’s non-adventure. These are the major signs of distress I look for while grieving.