my dearest may « Keri Smith

March 30th, 2004

my dearest may

“Does anything in nature despair except man? An animal with a foot caught in a trap does not seem to despair. It is too busy trying to survive. It is all closed in, to a kind of still, intense waiting. Is this a key? Keep busy with survival. Imitate the trees. Learn to lose in order to recover, and remember that nothing stays the same for long, not even pain, psychic pain. Sit is out. Let it all pass. Let it go.” -May Sarton fr. Journal of Solitude

Mar 31 2004
11:24 am

Keri Smith writes:

Michael,
Some interesting thoughts. I don’t think May was implying that one should try to be happy in a time of great pain, but instead try to ‘sit it out’. For me the key is to accept that it is painful or difficult and then just allow it to be what it is. My normal reaction to these things is that ‘it should be different’, hence the despair. This puts me into a place where I am fighting ‘what is’, instead of just being. I think ‘keeping busy with survival’ is in part saying, “this sucks!”, or “I am really sad right now.” Sometimes just saying that is enough to pull some air back into my lungs.

Mar 31 2004
3:29 pm

Keri Smith writes:

ha ha ha ha ha ha
munch munch.
salt anyone?

Mar 31 2004
4:27 pm

Keri Smith writes:

I was laughing more at the idea of a metaphorical knawing. It would definitely embody the idea of ‘keeping busy’.
I would not deny the fact that animals experience despair, panic.

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