Murky Monday
It's been a tough morning. No reason, really, other than sleeping poorly and feeling out of sorts after a vivid nightmare of a snake ready to bite if I moved and then being woken up by the jangle of the phone at the crucial moment of trying to be completely still. Ugh. Anyway, so my writing is suffering this morning; nothing seems to be working. So I've turned to reading When Things Fall Apart by Pema Chodron for inspiration, and here is what I've found:
"Inspiration and wretchedness are inseparable. We always want to get rid of misery rather than see how it works together with joy. The point isn't to cultivate one thing as opposed to another, but to relate properly to where we are. Inspiration and wretchedness complement each other. With only inspiration, we become arrogant. With only wretchedness, we lose our vision. Feeling inspired cheers us up, makes us realize how vast and wonderful our world is. Feeling wretched humbles us. The gloriousness of our inspiration connects us with the sacredness of the world. But when the tables are turned and we feel wretched, that softens us up. It ripens our hearts. It becomes the ground for understanding others. Both the inspiration and the wretchedness can be celebrated. We can be big and small at the same time."
Ah. Thank you, Pema Chodron, for showing me how to be okay with wretchedness. And whatever else shows up.
"Inspiration and wretchedness are inseparable. We always want to get rid of misery rather than see how it works together with joy. The point isn't to cultivate one thing as opposed to another, but to relate properly to where we are. Inspiration and wretchedness complement each other. With only inspiration, we become arrogant. With only wretchedness, we lose our vision. Feeling inspired cheers us up, makes us realize how vast and wonderful our world is. Feeling wretched humbles us. The gloriousness of our inspiration connects us with the sacredness of the world. But when the tables are turned and we feel wretched, that softens us up. It ripens our hearts. It becomes the ground for understanding others. Both the inspiration and the wretchedness can be celebrated. We can be big and small at the same time."
Ah. Thank you, Pema Chodron, for showing me how to be okay with wretchedness. And whatever else shows up.