suffering is the price we pay for wisdom,
i’ve grown to suspect there is no other way.
the people i’ve grown to respect the most in life appear to be those who chose to suffer beautifully. the people i’ve grown to respect the least in life appear to be those who chose to escape their suffering. these are usually the people who make others suffer in their stead.
the people i’ve grown to respect the most in life appear to be those who partake in the work dutifully. the people i’ve grown to respect the most in life appear to be those who are in hell but keep going. i’ve seen people who are in hell but would instead seek to drag others down with them — not merely to call for a life preserver, but to drown another in an attempt to make them their own life preserver. i think i’ve done the same. i think we all have.
i choose to swim
there is something that happens when we suffer correctly. i think the psyche becomes like a fertile soil. we can tend to the earth well.
there is something that happens when we suffer incorrectly. we are given a plot of land but choose to fuck off into the meadow, and instead let weeds grow where there could have been plenty, where there could have been plenty for self and for other, a plentiful harvest to bring forth for all of humanity.
THE CLOSET MYSTIC 