Write parts.
Delete parts.
Change subjects.
Put too many subjects together under one roof.
Delete and start again.
***
I am three quarters through the book, The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun.
I'm reading it because my daughter told me to, and I always do what she says to do.
(My daughter doesn't read my blog, so she'll never be able to debate me on the validity of the sentence above.)
I am already happy. A happiness book wasn't something that I would have ever chosen on my own, but through the reading of this book, I have found some interesting challenges that are already changing my life. How fun!
***
We went to see readings by Warrior Writers last night. We listened to veterans from the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars reading poetry and stories which express what lives inside them after their combat and non-combat experiences.
Will write more about that later. Still digesting.
Bought the book, Warrior Writers: Remaking Sense, while at the event.
Going back to "happiness", is this Gibran quote that I found in the Editor's Notes of the Warrior Writers' book true?:
"The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain."
- Kahlil Gibran
From my experience, sorrows have created space for more joy only when I have let them carve deep into my being. The times that I have only danced on the surface of sorrow, without giving it words and life; those are the times that joy finds no avenue for penetrating my heart and breaking it open. Roadblocks everywhere.
Some people might not think that listening to the pain and anger of returned vets would add to one's happiness. I feel happy to know that these brave young men are more brave than any of us thought they were. The bravery is not just found on the battlefield. It's found in admitting one's actions, in facing one's deepest nightmares, in saying the unsayable. I am happy that I got to witness the profound last night.
If Gibran's quote is true, the soldiers in the video below must have a chasm for joy that runs deeper than the deepest ocean. I don't know. But I truly hope so.
- Kahlil Gibran
From my experience, sorrows have created space for more joy only when I have let them carve deep into my being. The times that I have only danced on the surface of sorrow, without giving it words and life; those are the times that joy finds no avenue for penetrating my heart and breaking it open. Roadblocks everywhere.
Some people might not think that listening to the pain and anger of returned vets would add to one's happiness. I feel happy to know that these brave young men are more brave than any of us thought they were. The bravery is not just found on the battlefield. It's found in admitting one's actions, in facing one's deepest nightmares, in saying the unsayable. I am happy that I got to witness the profound last night.
If Gibran's quote is true, the soldiers in the video below must have a chasm for joy that runs deeper than the deepest ocean. I don't know. But I truly hope so.
I truly hope so too.
ReplyDeleteThank you for adding to my happiness this day, my dear Carol!
ReplyDeleteI've been pondering the Gibran quote. At face value I'm not sure I could agree. But like you, think there is more to it. My first thought was something about being willing to accept the possibility of the extremes. If one can accept the extreme of a deep sorrow, then the possibility of the opposite is likely as well. But could he hae menat something else? I reread the words and had to rethink. If we carve into wood (for example), we can only hold something to the depth we've cut. The deeper we cut into wood gives it the potential to hold a greater capacity. Begs the next question: Is sorrow the only valid cutting tool to increase our capacity for containing more joy?
ReplyDeleteG.G.,
ReplyDeleteI appreciate that you've been pondering.
I want to sit with your last question for awhile. I'm not sure that it's answerable. Maybe it's a good koan.
The Happiness Project sounds like an inspiring read. I'll have to check it out.
ReplyDeleteAnd the notion of sorrow carving a vessel into your being, a container for joy, is rich.
San,
ReplyDeleteIf you do check out the Happiness Project, I'd be interested in hearing what you think. At first I thought the woman was weird - for doing a year-long happiness project and for actually doing RESEARCH on happiness for the project. Researching happiness just doesn't seem right! Early on in the book, I felt affirmed when the author's sister called her "weird", too. :-) To my surprise, I did find within the book some little gems to contemplate.
I think that our carved joy vessel works best when it's overflowing, don't you?