Listened to Scott Simon interview the French graphic novelist, Marjane Satrapi, this morning on NPR. He questioned her about the role of suffering or unhappiness in the creative process. To paraphrase her, "Without some suffering I could not be creative. If we were happy all the time we would be sitting around eating, sleeping and lick ourselves. We'd be cats." She was clear to caution she did not wish anyone suffering and too much also would devastate the creative process.
I understand and agree with this. Indeed, probably the main reason I have the energy to create this blog, is being miserable from not being able to run and missing a child who has moved onto college.
Now the challenge is to reframe these changes from suffering to an opportunity for change. Change and some growth is the best we can hope for from these difficult times. The ability to adapt to circumstances and create is a pretty powerful expression of humanity. Failure to move forward and free from suffering, when one has the opportunity and ability, diminishes us and limits how we can be experienced by others.
Purr, kitty, purr.
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