Literature : Week 2 - This too will pass...
"This too will pass." I was taught these words by my Grandmother as a phrase that is to be used at All times in your life. When things are spectacularly dreadful; when things are absolutely apalling; When everything is superb and wonderful and marvelous and happy- say these four words to yourself. They will give you a sense of perspective and help you also to make the most of what is good and be stoical about what is bad..."-Claire Rayner
Permanence is such a strange "concept", it seems absurd that a word, or ideal or concept could even come into the human psyche or general worldly existence...At the risk of stating the obvious and sounding trite; nothing is ever or will ever be permanent, so why the discontent, disdain, remorse or disappointment about the things that come and go?
We live our lives knowing beyond a reasonable doubt that we come into existence to pursue a greater purpose. Discovering that "sole" purpose or what Maslow referred to as achieving "self-actualisation" could be as confusing and disillusioning as...oh i don't know! ummmm...figuring out how the continental drift produced such widely diverse individuals, of 6,689,013,839people as of 24/8/08 (click link for ref). So, these different "groups" of people; groups which turned to clans, then villages - towns, states, then nations, somehow divided by the "continental drift" still found ways to discover each other through the enigma which we now refer to as "migration" - why? As I digress by discussing something that I personally find confusing, could this be initiated by our drive to find deeper meaning in our lives, all the while knowing that whatever we "discover" will make us malcontent because we know in our core that nothing is in fact permanent?
G.M. Hopkin's Poem "Spring and Fall" breaks a girl's illusion that some things in life are better than the next. He emphasises that as we lose the innocence of youth we will experience all the trials and joys it has to offer,and despite our longing for "permanence", we also need the accept that change isn't something to be feared because expriencing sorrow, grief, and all the negativism that accompany any trials, only through these can we come to appreciate the truth in joy and contentment... well, that's what I got out our Group Family's discussions... I think the most moving poetic lines are those that never fail to impart wisdom, like G.M. Hopkin's "Spring & Fall"; Ah! as the heart grows older It will come to such sights colder By and by, nor spare a sigh Though worlds of wanwood leafmeal lie; And yet you will weep and know why. Now no matter, child, the name: Sorrow's springs are the same.below is my partial contribution to said discussion. Thanks for taking the time ;)
