"Listen--are you breathing just a little, and calling it a life?"
— Mary Oliver
Ugh. Why does this speak so loudly to me? In fact, it seems to be all I can hear at the moment. A best friend suggested recently to me that I could live big. Live big? I am almost 5'4" (lacking a quarter of an inch) and that's as tall as I am going to get. How can I live big? I think these notions reflect the same idea. Breathing just a little is barely living. Living small means being hidden from life and , in fact, hiding from life. How do you hide from life? Stay small and don't make waves. Breathe too big and you might make a mess. You might break your heart, or your bones, or your life. But at least you will know you are alive.
— Mary Oliver
I saw that there were zero comments, so I figured I would be the first. Living includes taking chances. Taking chances involves the possibility of pain. No pain, no gain may be often used, but the fact remains: better to have loved and lost, that never to have loved at all. My most crushing heart ache hurts to this day, if I allow my self to dally in that vein. But other heart matters have so dwarfed the pain, as to shove it right into Ms Melancholy's bag, and therefore out of mind.
ReplyDeleteMs M's bag must be very heavy.....
ReplyDelete