The best poems take long journeys. I like poetry best that journeys--while remaining in the human scale--to the other world, which may be a place as easily overlooked as a bee's wing
Robert BlyRead
As I've gotten older, I find I am able to be nourished more by sorrow and to distinguish it from depression.
Interpretation
With age, one can learn to appreciate sorrow as a valuable experience rather than confusing it with depression.
This quote by Robert Bly reflects the idea that maturity brings a deeper understanding of emotions. As individuals grow older, they often learn to recognize the difference between productive sorrow, which can lead to personal growth and insight, and depression, which may hinder their functioning and well-being. This distinction allows for a healthier relationship with one's feelings, enabling a more nuanced approach to life's challenges.
In practice
In a therapy session discussing emotional growth.
The best poems take long journeys. I like poetry best that journeys--while remaining in the human scale--to the other world, which may be a place as easily overlooked as a bee's wing
I am proud only of those days that pass in undivided tenderness.
My feeling is that poetry is also a healing process, and then when a person tries to write poetry with depth or beauty, he will find himself guided along paths which will heal him, and this is more important, actually, than any of the poetry he writes.
Every part of you that you do not love will regress and become hostile towards you.
The door to the soul is unlocked; you do not need to please the doorkeeper, the door in front of you is yours, intended for you, and the doorkeeper obeys when spoken to.
Don't go outside your house to see flowers. My friend, don't bother with that excursion. Inside your body there are flowers. One flower has a thousand petals. That will do for a place to sit. Sitting there you will have a glimpse of beauty inside the body and out of it, before gardens and after gardens.
In a controversy, the instant we feel anger, we have already ceased striving for truth and have begun striving for ourselves.
Our plans miscarry because they have no aim.
Itβs funny. I met a man once who did a lot of mountain climbing. I asked him which was harder, ascending or descending? He said without a doubt descending, because ascending you were so focused on reaching the top, you avoided mistakes. The backside of a mountain is a fight against human nature,β he said. βYou have to care as much about yourself on the way down as you did on the way up.
If, however, you take a moment to observe how you actually feel immediately after you criticise someone, you'll notice that you will feel a little deflated and ashamed, almost like you're the one who has been attacked. The reason this is true is that when we criticise, it's a statement to the world and to ourselves, "I have a need to be critical." This isn't something we are usually proud to admit.
You need to learn how to select your thoughts just the same way you select your clothes every day. This is a power you can cultivate. If you want to control things in your life so bad, work on the mind. That's the only thing you should be trying to control.
A pessimist is one who makes difficulties of his opportunities and an optimist is one who makes opportunities of his difficulties.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.