Dark Night of the Soul

"Grief keeps the heart fluid and soft, which makes compassion possible." Dr. Francis Weller

I have been experiencing, what I will call a dark night of the soul.  This term was first coined by St. John of the Cross, and it is a combination of psychological sadness and spiritual emptiness, often caused by an external event, such as a death.  I had the opportunity some time ago to be have the training to become a Nationally Certified Trauma Responder.  In that training, we were taught that a person can never know what might tip them over into too much trauma.  For me was it the infestation of pack rats into my home this summer?  Witnessing a difficult death?  The many years of caregiving?  I do not know, and perhaps it does not matter.  What does matter is that I acknowledge that I have had too much trauma in too short a time, and that has affected me.  And, I have to take the appropriate steps to return to well being.