"Be not the slave of your own past. Plunge into the sublime seas, dive deep and swim far, so you shall come back with self-respect, with new power, with an advanced experience that shall explain and overlook the old."
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Plunge
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11 comments:
I agree. In general, every time I have plunged into new seas, the results have been positive. However, as I age and become more established and more comfortable and hav emore responsibilities (not to mention the nearing shore of my mortality) taking those risks becomes increasingly hard.
I definitely encourage those who are younger and have less to lose to plunge forward and not be afraid.
hahaha...
i guess it is more or less, the same with flying abroad and don't forget to come home.
but, of course, not in a term of afraid of new things or something like that...
maybe it seems like "live the life to the fullest"?
b, could you tell me how to make the archieve in the blog to be like yours?
by email maybe, if it is complicated :p
ladyducky1982@yahoo.com
thanks in advance
richard...plunging into new seas can be daunting, particularly as we establish and exist in a comfort zone for a long period. and that applies to everything: career, family, travel, personal pursuits, etc. but regardless of our resposibilities, we are all able to plunge, to let go of the past and embrace the present, without neglecting important responsibilities.
nearing the shore of your mortaility?! aren't you in your 40s? really, anyone of us could be at the shore of mortality. live each day to its fullest, which is possible even with responsibilities such as family and work.
ancilla...yes. it is good to get away and gain perspective, but running away never works. home is not a physical/geographical space. "coming home" means coming back to ourselves, not being a slave to what we've done or become, not allowing that to define us. absolutely, live life to the fullest and with an integrity of true self.
and regards the archive feature, i hope you received my email and that it made sense!
I am 41, but a few years ago, mortality set in.
richard...i appreciate that sense of mortality and that regardless of the fact that one could die at any age, as we get older we are more aware of that mortality.
but you have the entirety of your 40s ahead of you and with all this awareness you now possess also lies the possibility of living more fully.
maybe i am being my overly-idealistic self, but then again...i've always preferred autumn to any of the seasons. there is something so profound and glorious about autumn. spring is clumsy and full of promise and a sense of hope. summer is pleasing and casual. autumn is knowing and introspective. winter is peaceful.
All these things are good, but sometimes one must remember the past in order to find the future.
inside our hands, outside our hearts...thank you for visiting my blog. i agree with what you are saying. i do believe that one can (and should) remember and accept their past but without being a slave to it.
There is no being overly optimistic. When we stop moving, when we stop growing, we start dying. The problem with hindsight is that you recognize all the opportunities you should have taken. And, no, I am not trying to be morose.
When I was younger, I loved Winter. The cold, the snow. As I grow older, Winter is less appealing and I found I preferred Autumn. Now I prefer Spring with its vibrant colours and bursting energy. Still don't like Summer - too hot.
ichard...hindsight can definitely bite you in the er, hind! but there are no opportunities to be had from the past, only those in the present. there is no guaranteed future either, so i guess we better start living now, huh?
i really don't think that there are any mistakes from our past. all of the past (both choices and opportunites not taken) has brought us to who we are now and that is absolutely perfect.
of course you are not being morose, just honest. and that is always refreshing and appreciated.
i love all of the seasons for their own reason but autumn is the culmination for me. by the way, i was reading today and thought of you when i came across this quote from Narcissus and Goldmund:
"Any life expands and flowers only through division and contradiction. What are reason and sobriety without the knowledge of intoxication? What is sensuality without death standing behind it? What is love without the eternal mortal enmity of the sexes? Summer sank away, and autumn; painfully Goldmund struggled through the bitter months, wandered drunkenly through the sweet-smelling spring. Hastily the seasons fled; again and again high summer sun sank down."
Just trying to make sure I don't sound like Eeyore, "We-e-e-ll, it looks like another gl-oo-oo-oo-oo-oomy day."
Never heard of Narcissus and Goldmund - strange mix of Greek and Germanic. Sounds like a cross between Edith Hamilton's Mythology and Njal's Saga.
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