Growing up is difficult. Strangely, even when we have stopped growing physically, we seem to have to keep on growing emotionally, which involves both expansion and shrinkage, as some parts of us develop and others must be allowed to disappear...Rigidity never works; we end up being the wrong size for our world.
Interpretation
Growing up involves emotional development and the need to let go of aspects of ourselves that no longer fit.
In this quote, Jeanette Winterson highlights the complexity of growing up, emphasizing that maturity goes beyond physical growth to include emotional evolution. As we navigate life, we must learn to embrace change by developing new traits while simultaneously allowing outdated beliefs or behaviors to fade away, as clinging to rigidity prevents us from adapting to our ever-evolving environments.
In practice
In a motivational speech about personal development.
What is remembered is not a deed in stone but a metaphor. Meta = above. Pheren = to carry. That which is carried above the literalness of life. A way of thinking that avoids the problems of gravity. The word won't let me down. The single word that can release me from all that unuttered weight.
Reading things that are relevant to the facts of your life is of limited value. The facts are, after all, only the facts, and the yearning passionate part of you will not be met there. That is why reading ourselves as a fiction as well as fact is so liberating. The wider we read the freer we become.
I have a list of titles that I leave at the [library] desk, because they are bound to be written some day, and it's best to be ahead of the queue.
Woolf wanted to say dangerous things in Orlando but she did not want to say them in the missionary position.
In that house, you will find my heart. You must break in, Henri, and get it back for me.' Was she mad? We had been talking figuratively. Her heart was in her body like mine. I tried to explain this to her, but she took my hand and put it against her chest. Feel for yourself.
History is a string full of knots, the best you can do is admire it, and maybe tie it up a bit more. History is a hammock for swinging and a game for playing.
Every black man in Chicago walks through the world differently, and I think what young black boys do is observe, and that's what gives them their road map.
It is not the years in your life but the life in your years that counts.
The latitude and longitudinal lines of where you are born determine your opportunity in life, and it's not equal. We may have been created equal, but we're not born equal. It's a lot to do with luck and you have to pass that on.
The Wine of Life keeps oozing drop by drop, The Leaves of Life keep falling one by one.
Birth, life, death is a cycle. And they're all beautiful, you celebrate all of them. Animals do grieve, but they move on. That's the lesson behind animals.
Life is too deep for words, so don't try to describe it, just live it.
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