Suffering is bullsh*t
yes, we know that “life is hard,” but we also really want it to be hard in ways that are manageable and more inconvenient than difficult. We want our setbacks to be setting us up for comebacks, and more than anything, we want to be able to alchemize our pain into something shiny and good: a lesson learned, a warning sign for others. Our suffering i
... See moreNora McInerny • Bad Vibes Only: (and Other Things I Bring to the Table)
At first, when we have just started the spiritual journey, every time we are confronted with all the things we’re afraid of—disasters or accidents or we get mugged or we get raped or we lose our job or something “awe-ful” happens—we say, “Oh, get away from me. I want happiness. I want pleasure. I didn’t know this was part of the bargain.” But later
... See moreStephen Levine • Grist for the Mill: Awakening to Oneness
To tolerate life , as Gaitskill implores us to do, you first have to actually live in it — get up in the morning, take out the trash, eat breakfast, go to work, get on the train, try not to look too deeply into the faces of the people sitting across from you, walk home, call your parents, pay your rent — and you must do all of this amid immeasurabl... See more
Rayne Fisher-Quann • against narrative
The only sensible path forward is to learn to accept the brokenness of human life, to develop resilience in the face of its petty cruelties, and to learn to live with yourself.
“I succumbed,” she said. “I stopped denying the wounds and felt them, felt their width and breadth. Pain can be clarifying. If you are able to feel it...the pain itself will tell you what to do.”... See more
I looked out of the window, feeling disappointed and empty. This was not the answer I had come for. I wanted something else, some other formula or techniqu
Elizabeth Oldfield • The only way through is down
Believing things that aren’t true for us at the deepest level is the commonest way in which we lose our integrity. Then suffering arises—not as punishment, but as a signal that we’re being torn apart. The purpose of suffering is to help us locate our internal divisions, reclaim our reality, and heal these inner rifts.