But the question remains. What can I do? Well, now that you understand that the question is complicated, the answer actually emerges as quite simple: do what you’re good at. And do your best.
Sayfa 26Kitabı okudu
Pulled Down Shade
what I like about you
she told me
is that you’re crude—
look at you sitting there
a beercan in your hand
and a cigar in your mouth
And even when you can accept that a stranger is in the wrong and you should move on, you’re still deliberately making yourself responsible for correcting their behaviour. Sometimes the best thing to do with people who would never listen to you in the first place is to avoid them altogether. To right every wrong you come across in the world would be an impossible endeavour for any one person. You’re just one person, and you’re putting too much of the weight of the world on yourself.
E-kitapKitabı okudu
After several years of diligent, genuine research, I finally came to a conclusion: womanhood is whoredom. The art of ass-licking. You can dress it up as seduction, tart it up as glamour. It’s not exactly a sport that requires great skill. For the most part, it just means behaving like you’re inferior. Walk into a room, check to see whether there are any men present, do your best to please them. Don’t talk too loud. Don’t make categorical statements. Don’t spread your legs and get comfortable when you sit down. Don’t be peremptory. Don’t talk about money. Don’t hanker after power. Don’t seek a position of authority. Don’t strive for glory. Don’t laugh too loud. Don’t be too funny. Pleasing men is a complex art that involves erasing everything that concerns power.
MacmillanKitabı okudu
#marcusaurelius
“At dawn, when you have trouble getting out of bed, tell yourself: “I have to go to work — as a human being. What do I have to complain of, if I’m going to do what I was born for — the things I was brought into the world to do? Or is this what I was created for? To huddle under the blankets and stay warm?”
So you were born to feel “nice”? Instead of doing things and experiencing them? Don’t you see the plants, the birds, the ants and spiders and bees going about their individual tasks, putting the world in order, as best they can? And you’re not willing to do your job as a human being? Why aren’t you running to do what your nature demands?
You don’t love yourself enough. Or you’d love your nature too, and what it demands of you.”
“Şafak vakti, yataktan kalkmakta zorluk çektiğinizde kendinize şunu söyleyin: “Bir insan olarak işe gitmeliyim. Doğduğum şeyi yapacaksam - dünyaya yapmak için getirildiğim şeyleri yapacaksam neyden şikayet etmem gerekiyor? Yoksa bunun için mi yaratıldım? Battaniyelerin altına sokulup ısınmak için mi?”
Yani "iyi" hissetmek için mi doğdun? Bir şeyler yapmak ve onları deneyimlemek yerine? Bitkileri, kuşları, karıncaları, örümcekleri ve arıları ellerinden geldiğince bireysel görevlerini yerine getirerek dünyayı düzene soktuklarını görmüyor musunuz? Ve bir insan olarak işinizi yapmaya istekli değil misiniz? Neden doğanızın gerektirdiğini yapmak için koşmuyorsunuz?
Kendini yeterince sevmiyorsun. Ya da doğanızı ve onun sizden talep ettiklerini de seversiniz.”
Marcus Aurelius
Some self soothing techniques:
- bubble bath
- long, hot shower
- listen to music; may be a particular song
- polish your car
- exercise; run, lift weights; take a bike-ride
- play guitar or other instrument
- cook or bake (we’re talking about the process here; be careful not to over-use food itself for self-soothing!)
- spend time with your
Carl Jung and the Shadow (Jack E. Othon)
(...) Have you ever said or done something really shitty, mostly on an impulse, that you later regretted? After the damage was done and the other person involved was hurt, you couldn’t bury your shame fast enough. “Why did I say that?” you might have asked yourself in frustration. It’s that “Why?” question that indicates the presence of a blind
I start to walk out of the kitchen, but my steps feel so heavy. I have so much I want to say to Grace that I didn’t have the chance to say to her earlier today at my apartment. I turn around, and I’m sorry is on the tip of my tongue, but I feel like if I open my mouth, I’ll cry.
My eyes meet Grace’s, and she can see the agony in my expression.
“Grace . . .” My voice is a whisper.
She immediately walks over to me and pulls me in for a hug.
It’s an amazing hug. A forgiving hug. “Hey,” she says, soothingly. “Hey, listen to me.” She pulls back, and we’re about the same height, so we’re eye to eye when she takes the juice from me and sets it aside. Then she squeezes both of my hands reassuringly. “We go forward,” she says. “That’s it. It’s that simple. I forgive you and you forgive me, and we go forward together and give that little girl the best life we can give her. Okay?”
I nod, because I can do that. I forgive them. I’ve always forgiven them.
It’s myself I’ve been hard on. But I think I’ve reached the point that forgiving myself finally feels okay.
So I do.
You’re forgiven, Kenna.
Notes To Myself
According to the Social Security Administration, if you take any 100 people at the start of their working careers and follow them for the next 40 years until they reach retirement age, here’s what you’ll find: only 1 will be wealthy; 4 will be financially secure; 5 will continue working, not because they want to but because they have to; 36 will
The truth is that this was a story about many different things, but most of all about idiots. Because we’re doing the best we can, we really are. We’re trying to be grown-up and love each other and understand how the hell you’re supposed to insert USB leads. We’re looking for something to cling on to, something to fight for, something to look forward to. We’re doing all we can to teach our children how to swim. We have all of this in common, yet most of us remain strangers, we never know what we do to each other, how your life is affected by mine.
Perhaps we hurried past each other in a crowd today, and neither of us noticed, and the fibers of your coat brushed against mine for a single moment and then we were gone. I don’t know who you are.
But when you get home this evening, when this day is over and the night takes us, allow yourself a deep breath. Because we made it through this day as well.
