Bargaining: Stage 3

Finally, the anger subsides and reality starts to creep from behind the turbulent clouds of the now ebbing storm of emotions. Your thoughts begin to invent what-if scenario after scenario of how things could have been avoided or averted. If only you had known sooner, if you had seen a specialist, and many other like stories dance through your imagination. These daydreams of a better life are only an escape measure from reality, though, so don't dwell on them. This is the shortest lived stage for most people, in part because you know that your fantasies aren't helping anyone and time is just passing you by. It is my belief that not everyone experiences these stages exactly the same way, perhaps even skipping or repeating a stage or stages. In any case I sympathize with those who suffer the next stage.

The Picture Frame

When my Grandmother passed away, among the things I took for myself were two picture frames. For months I waited to find a picture that I would be proud to display around my room, but what to put in it puzzled me. It occurred to me that each individual person would have different reasons behind their choices and I don't know what kind of person I am. The first factor is what sort of picture is it that you are putting in: Whether it is a person/s, place, or thing. The next factor is "What makes this picture frame-worthy?" Does it remind you of someone, someplace, or something that you are fond of, or is it simply because it is appealing to the eye and matches the decor? Next comes the narrowing down of the available pictures to determine which one or ones will be framed. (Assuming there is a limited amount of frames and wall and ceiling space) It more or less comes down to what images mean the most to you, whether there is any correlation between pictures and other environmental factors. In this fashion, the framing of a picture of a significant other is a personal milestone, because it fills the space that could have been held by a number of other images representing your life. Inversely, the removing and or replacing of such a picture can be equally moving. To this very moment, I still have two empty picture frames, but an inclination of what to fill them with fills my day to day thoughts.