a sad face is good for the heart

"it is better to go into a house of mourning than to go into a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of every man; the living should take this to heart. sorrow is better than laughter, because a sad face is good for the heart. the heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of the fool is in the house of pleasure." -ecclesiastes 7:2-4

I am terrible at goodbyes and I handle them by not processing things emotionally. More specifically, by pretending that everything is OK. But these verses from Ecclesiastes, and the words of wise friends, really called me out. I tend to be the fool who hangs out in a house of pleasure, laughing when I should cry, avoiding sadness/emotional-processing at all costs. This is not to say that I should wallow in sadness or refuse to have any fun in my last four days here on the hill... but it is worthwhile to actually allow myself the freedom to be sad, even, heaven forbid, to cry a bit. I truly love this place, and will be leaving many dear friends. So, as I write this, with tears definitely streaming down my now rosy cheeks, I leave you for now with the words of two very wise friends:

"to allow oneself to mourn is to admit that what is being lost truly had meaning to you." -b.h.

"to feel loss when you move on is to say, 'job well done.' had you no sense of loss, you would not have done your job well." - a.k.