Hello Again   يا اهلا

Grief is an unwanted visitor who we all come to know throughout our lifetime. Although every person reacts differently to bereavement of a loved one, almost always the lost other becomes etched into our being for the remainder of our lives. In today’s society, we are encouraged to say “Good-bye”, but what if instead, we allow ourselves to keep those who have passed on close to our hearts and say “hello again”?

The text printed onto the paper structures are selections from my responses to a talk therapy that incorporates saying ‘Hello Again’ to those who have passed on. The therapy focuses on remembering the individual who is lost to us and aims to shift our perception into re-integrating the person whom we’ve lost into our lives rather than shutting the door on them completely.

A question asked in this therapy that resonated with me is, “What did your ………………………… (lost loved one) see when they looked at you through their loving eyes?”

The audio component acts as a chant or hymn that blends a lullaby my mother used to sing to me with an original poem. The language spoken is in Arabic.