9.25.2011

scars

to be alive at all is to have scars.
-john steinbeck

as I am studying in my program and contemplating the suffering of many types of people around the world, i am realizing more and more the reality of this quote. we are often asked to contemplate the question: what is universal? what has no bounds? what is absolutely inalienable?

is love universal?
is suffering universal?

the more critically i think about these things that are intrinsically ours, the more i realize my heart is being opened to understand and love those around me. they say the more we work in this field, the less full our proverbial glass is....

and yet, that has led me to ask: who is drinking out of that glass? where is that second straw coming from? (as my professor so eloquently put it) maybe if our glass is less full, maybe if we have a different view on things that aren't all glitter and rainbows, we are more easily able to appreciate life, and fill our glass with those things that mean the most?

just a little stream of consciousness....

3 comments:

Lalis said...

Love this.

Anonymous said...

You said it so beautifully. I think that as I look at life, some may say that my cup is half empty, but I see God in all things and that makes my cup fuller than ever before. We just need to get older and go through more so that we can understand all that we are given. Thanks for such beautiful thoughts.

defining amy said...

um yeah. i'm pretty positive we'd be homies in real life. love this post so much. that quote is beautiful.