Grief, Sorrow, Depression, Nourishment

Art, Grief, Sorrow, Depression, Nourishment

When anyone seriously pursues an art – painting, poetry, sculpture, composing – over twenty or thirty years, the sustained discipline carries the artist down to the countryside of grief; and that descent, resisted so long, proves invigorating…As I’ve gotten older, I find I am able to be nourished more by sorrow and to distinguish it from depression.

--Robert Bly

My observations: Bly switches from grief to depression, but I think the message is that there is a distinction between grief and sorrow also. Many years ago, I encountered a beautiful definition of sorrow in the voluminous material of the kabalah course I was taking. It would be like searching for a needle in a haystack to find it now. However, I think there is a significant distinction worth understanding between grief/depression and sorrow. Perhaps they are all ultimately nourishing in their own way, but I related to the distinction Bly is making. 

The Bottomless Pit, Holiness, and Open Space

The Bottomless Pit, Holiness, and Open Space

You understand, but the reality of it escapes you. Understanding is nothing. The eyes must be kept open, constantly. To open your eyes you must relax, not strain. Don’t be afraid of falling backwards into a bottomless pit. There is nothing to fall into, you’re in it and of it, and one day, if you persist, you will be it. I don’t say you will have it, please notice, because there’s nothing to possess. Neither are you to be possessed, remember that! You are to liberate your self. There are no exercises, physical or spiritual to practice. All such things are like incense – they awaken a feeling of holiness. We must be holy without holiness. We must be whole…complete. That’s being holy. Any other kind of holiness is false, a snare, and a delusion.

--Henry Miller, Plexus

It’s hard to face that open space.

--Neil Young

Juxtaposed Quotes #1

Sometimes I like to juxtapose quotes that feel somehow related. 

How to Actualize the Self

Actualization of the self cannot be sought as a goal in its own right…Rather, it seems to be a by-product of active commitment of one’s talents to some cause, outside the self, such as the quest for beauty, truth, or justice.

--Sidney M. Jourard

The Meaning of Life

The meaning of life cannot be told; it has to happen to a person.

--Ira Progoff

Everyday Happiness

Everyday happiness means getting up in the morning, and you can’t wait to finish your breakfast. You can’t wait to do your exercises. You can’t wait to put on your clothes. You can’t wait to get out – and you can’t wait to come home, because the soup is hot.

--George Burns