Trigger Warning: today's podcast contains sensitive subject matter: child mortality. After her infant son jumped the planet, listener Hailey writes in to ask: Is an untimely death always planned as part of someone's soul contract? Children bring such gentleness and innocence to our world, and we innately want to protect them from harm or suffering. In a world where children often die way too soon, we as individuals and as a collective feel a form of unimaginable grief that is nearly impossible to define or understand. We ask the hardest of questions: Why them? Why now? What is the purpose and meaning behind this form of senseless cruelty and pain? So often, the body may be young, but the soul is old and wise. So many past lives are bundled into a tiny human; many who are born with a big mission attached to a short lifespan. Does this justify their passing? Absolutely not. Yet, awareness of the brevity of life and of our emotions is critical. The love and purpose children bring to our world are the very things we need to keep a hold of when we deeply grieve senseless tragedies. Because Earth School is hard, and sometimes the world doesn't make sense. That's when the Other Side can bring comfort to our weary hearts and minds. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.