Monday, August 9, 2010

Life, and what to do with it . . .

[from The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath:]

46.  What is my life for and what am I going to do with it?  I don't know and I'm afraid.  I can never read all the books I want; I can never be all the people I want and live all the lives I want.  I can never train myself in all the skills I want.  And why do I want?  I want to live and feel all the shades, tones, and variations of mental and physical experience possible in my life.  And I am horribly limited.  [p. 43]


62.  …  I am at odds.  I dislike being a girl, because as such I must come to realize that I cannot be a man.  [p. 54]


63.  …  I desire the things which will destroy me in the end … .  [p. 55]

[I was really drawn to Sylvia Plath (and to Anne Sexton) in my post-suicidal days; i was also ashamed that i hadn't kept journals or really done any writing worth mentioning before my own suicide attempt.  I thank the gods that suicide doesn't hold the same fascination for me it once did:  the reading and writing eventually helped me work through it, i guess.

It's time now for a renewed search for what else to do with my own life.  Any suggestions?

Be well, Patient Reader.]

1 comment:

  1. it wasn't just reading & writing that helped me work through suicidal feelings. friendships & relationships helped me through; being with people helped me through; and exercise. (reading & writing did help some, though.)

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