The Land of the Living

I woke this morning with an old Christian song going through my head, "It's time to get back to the land of the living".   While the song actually talks about is forgiveness, but I keep thinking about "The Land of the Living".

The Land of the Living.  It feels so long since I've been there.  I shut down after my mother died.   I couldn't even get dressed most days.  There was so much drama going on around me.  Someone who took a photo of my mother in ICU -- with the promise to her that no one would ever see it -- posted that photo on Facebook and refused to take it down.  When I contacted Facebook, they removed it and I was told by the person who posted it that I had to tell Facebook that it was allowed to be used or . . .  else.   I refuse to be blackmailed.  So, I allowed the "else" to happen.  Now there are a number of people who don't trust me, and don't speak to me.

For the last sixteen months I have pretty much gone out of my way to avoid the people who caused problems.  While befriending them would be stupid (forgiving doesn't mean you have to allow people the opportunity to hurt you again), I made the decision this week that I will no longer avoid places they may be.

Tomorrow I'm going to our town's Independence Day celebration.   They may be there.  They may not, but it's time for me to no longer allow the fear of who might be around to dictate my life.