All The Beauty In The World by Patrick Bringley

The scenes of the fire ravaged streets of Pacific Palisades and Altadena are apocalyptic. Having grown up in Los Angeles, I cannot even recognize the city of my youth. The mountains, palm streets and beaches are now covered in ash and destruction, with wildfires still raging everywhere. The posts by people on Instagram who have lost their homes is nothing short of heartbreaking. There is loss, sadness and most of all grieving to be done. How does one deal with a loss so painful it hurts? This is a book about grieving. "All the Beauty in the World" by Patrick Bringley is the story of how the author lost his older brother to cancer in his 20s. The loss was unthinkable. How could his successful, healthy older brother die, and leave behind a young wife? Bringley was working at the New Yorker Magazine at the time, but he soon gave up that job to grieve. He decided to take a job as an official guard at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This job quite literally saved him. Going to the museum for his shift, standing in his assigned location and putting his uniform on, gave him structure, purpose and the chance to calmly, peacefully mourn the loss of his brother. The book almost reads like a play, as we meet his fellow guards, hear about the exhibits, and befriend the visitors to the museum, some frequent times. The longer he works at the job, the more Bringley comes back to life again, and then he marries and has two children. After the grief becomes easier to hold, hope emerges. My prayers are with Bringley and his family, and the people of Los Angeles as they all try to find hope in the middle of pain, suffering and loss. Bringley found beauty in the museum. May the residents of Los Angeles find beauty in each other, as they face the task of rebuilding the city of angels. To buy this book on Amazon click here.