It is perfectly possible — indeed, it is far from uncommon — to go to bed one night, or wake up one morning, or simply walk through a door one has known all one’s life, and discover, between inhaling and exhaling, that the self one has sewn together with such effort is all dirty rags, is unusable, is gone: and out of what raw material will one build a self again? The lives of men — and, therefore, of nations — to an extent literally unimaginable, depend on how vividly this question lives in the mind. It is a question which can paralyze the mind, of course.
~ James Baldwin from “Nothing Personal,” in The Price of the Ticket: Collected Nonfiction
Notes:
- Quote – via Brainpickings. Photo: Andrew Tarnawczyk (via mennyfox55)
- Related Posts: It’s been a long day
The external will always renew and die…dirty rags and all. When we realize that the internal is constant and never changing, and will always be there as long as we are alive in this changing body and world … we can let go of the angst and drama. And shift gears.😎
and only, to shift gears. Thank you Val.
we will rebuild!
We will!
That’s the space, as awful as it can feel and appear to look, that we can begin to live our truth. 👏
Yes…that’s it Karen.
Another very timely choice David.
For me too Ilona…thanks.
Like the shedding of the skin… the core remains, the old gets tossed to make room for the new.
Beautiful analogy. Wow Dale. You have it going tonight.
We are both strong and weak, loveable and awful, formidable and quaking – living within the dichotomy and looking for reason, an either/or we can manage. We’re soiled rags and the finest silk..and everything in between.
Yes. Yes.