NOVEMBER 2014
the newsletter for Nuçi’s Space, a nonprofit musicians’ support/resource center
Another Year Has Passed…
H
ere I am again! Staring into a blank document on my computer screen. For a few moments it’s kind of soothing! Pleasant warmth washes over me, my eyelids relax. Ahhh! I’m so Zen! Nothing matters only this moment! I will it to go on and on. But of course it doesn’t. Often when I am so close to transcendence, life (aka my husband) intercedes! “So did you think of something to write about?” Argh! Immediately I’m back staring at that blank document challenging me to fill it with words that will grab your attention and make you want so badly to read what I have to say. Yes, it’s almost Thanksgiving and once again I’m writing to you. I can’t help but wonder how many of you have read any or even some of my fourteen annual ramblings. Hope we haven’t lost contact with you. That connection is very important and we need your help to continue. Loss in general is defined as the state or feeling of grief when deprived of someone or something of value. So much of what we lose is out of our control. For example, my family’s loss of Nuçi to suicide. On any given day if you ask how I feel, I’ll say, “I’m great!” But down not so far below the surface I hurt. Loss of a loved one leaves such a rip in our fabric—one that can never be completely mended. The crack is always there. As Leonard Cohen sings in his song, “Anthem,” “There is a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.” These cracks are what make us human. I put great store in them. Just as smile lines give a face character, the cracks from our losses reflect the texture and tone of our lives. From the first scratch on a new baby, to the broken foot in a soccer game, to the loss of a family pet or the death of a grandparent, by the time we reach adulthood, most of us have lots of losses and thus lots of cracks. Actually, we humans are quite fragile. It is helpful to consider our fragility and own up to the cracks within us. On first glance, most of us look pretty intact. Cracks! What cracks! I’m great! Since it’s a human tendency to want to appear OK, most of us hide our true feelings. Knowing this tendency about each other might allow a little more compassion for our fellow man. After all we never know what’s really going on inside of another. Given all the cracks that most
of us bear, there is a great opportunity to let lots of light shine in. And what might this light bring to our lives? It can bring clarity—the kind of clarity that requires us to see with our two eyes, our mind and our heart. The light that shines through all the cracks is what allows an individual to grow toward fulfilling his needs so that he can become a fully functioning person. At my age, I have lots of cracks and accepting them, I am very aware that what ultimately keeps me from shattering is the certainty that I am not alone. I have family and I have friends. I am loved. My goal for Nuçi’s Space is to impart to each person who passes through the assurance that “you are not alone.” It is my experience that this is the first step and perhaps the first glimmer of light that peeks through a crack and delivers us on a road to healing. It sounds so simple but when practiced, change can occur and that need to be a fully functioning person can be satisfied. So another year has come and gone. Nuçi’s Space is still open. I am thankful first to all the people this year who have allowed us the privilege of being of service in their lives. Of course closely behind are the health care professionals. They are never named but they know who they are. I consider them the backbone of Nuçi’s Space. I am thankful for my director who continues to give us his heart and hard work, no matter how intense the stressors. I am thankful for an exemplary staff and for all the volunteers who provide their energy to help us continue. I am thankful to our Board members who have so unselfishly given their time and energy to our cause. Last and for certain not least, I am thankful to you who have supported us so generously and I hope you will continue to do so. Without you, there is no Nuçi’s Space. It is my sincere hope that 2015 brings more peace into this big world of ours. We need a universal light to flood the cracks and illuminate the darkness that is so pervasive and threatening today. And most of all, we need to recognize the fact that no matter how different we are from one another, we are one world and we need each other.
Peace, Linda V. Phillips Nuçi’s mom and founder of Nuçi’s Space
nuçi’s space 396 Oconee Street Athens, GA 30601 706.227.1515 space@nuci.org www.nuci.org www.facebook.com/ nucisspace Newsletter Contributors
Bob Sleppy Chris Byron Marc Tissenbaum Heather Heyn Matherly Lesley Cobbs Betsy Franck Dave Chamberlin Photos
Lesley Cobbs Design & Layout
Larry Tenner