You know the old adage: Plant an expectation, reap a disappointment.
Elizabeth GilbertRead
It's not an accident that both my sister and I are writers. Our parents created an accidental Petri dish. My family has great storytellers, and I grew up in a very funny, conversational house and didn't have television. This small family farm was a bubble world that didn't have much to do with reality.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The environment we grow up in shapes our abilities and passions.
In this quote, Elizabeth Gilbert reflects on how her upbringing in a storytelling-rich environment influenced her and her sister to become writers. She highlights the importance of family dynamics and the unique circumstances of their upbringing, which fostered creativity and communication in the absence of modern distractions like television.
Themes
StorytellingFamilyCreativityWritersUpbringing
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used in a seminar about the influence of family on career choices.
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I had always been taught that the pursuit of happiness was my natural (even national) birthright. It is the emotional trademark of my culture to seek happiness. Not just any kind of happiness, either, but profound happiness, even soaring happiness. And what could possibly bring a person more soaring happiness than romantic love.
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When I tried this morning, after an hour or so of unhappy thinking, to dip back into my meditation, I took a new idea with me: compassion. I asked my heart if it could please infuse my soul with a more generous perspective on my mind's workings. Instead of thinking that I was a failure, could I perhaps accept that I am only a human being--and a normal one, at that?
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And when you sense a faint potentiality for happiness after such dark times you must grab onto the ankles of that happiness and not let go until it drags you face-first out of the dirt - this is not selfishness, but obligation. You were given life; it is your duty to find something beautiful within life no matter how slight.
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But never again use another person's body or emotions as a scratching post for your own unfulfilling yearnings.
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