Thank you for sharing your words which always leave me with peace and calm. I cannot say I am at peace with bliss and misery. The misery I experience makes me appreciate the bliss. Being born under the sign of Libra, I am always seeking balance which helps when I experience the lows in life knowing I will experience the highs. So glad I can listen to your voice here Renee.
Thank you, Denise, for your kind words. Writers need those at times, as we work so often in isolation. I question whether I am peace with it, too. I am often, but often I'm not. Remembering the balance is always the key for me. Thank you for staying tuned in and helping to burn the compassion compass brighter!
I love how, right in this moment, we are both pondering bliss and misery in the wild waters and winds! (See what I just posted, before hopping over here to read your latest offering!) I am constantly teetering on the edge—bliss pulling me forward, fear pulling me back. It seems life is a constant dance between the two and I don't know that we ever become completely okay with it. But I do know that the feelings thrown up are something I am prepared to acknowledge each and every day, and that must count for something. Thank you for sharing your wonderful words, that touch so deeply.
Thank you, Alice for offering your wisdom. And, yes, I just read your newest article and we are gliding on the same wave! It is a constant dance. I like to imagine the dance as a tornado we can do nothing about, but perhaps we can stabilize our minds enough so as to be the calm center. Your acceptance of feelings seems to me to be the golden key into balancing in that center. I'm going to listen again to your beautiful story now that we've had this exchange.
I live the bliss and misery every day! Like a dance, the two are always fighting for territory of my mind. This was born from my love and attachment to my children and living on alert to anything that might harm them. I know many mothers who have anxiety. I wonder if we are struggling with the same thing in various forms.
Thank you, Rachel, for sharing with a profound, real-life example of the dance between misery and bliss. Not being a mother myself, I can only guess that what you say is absolutely true. The attachment to children is said to be of the strongest type, and for good reason. That's why it's said in Tibetan Buddhism that taking vows as a married person is more difficult a path than a monk or nun.
I also agree with you that we all dance with this 'coin' and it has endless manifestations. Love with close ones is the most difficult because of the inevitable loss, or what we see as loss.
Such an amazing story, told by an even more amazing storyteller. Your experience evoke memories of my own young and naive travel experiences. I don't think there is anyone who escapes these kinds of experiences. It is from these adventures where we grow and learn. Also, without such tales we cannot truly appreciate the blissful moments we are lucky enough to encounter.
I think it is difficult to be at peace with the dance of misery and bliss, but we continue to pursue bliss even with the chance of misery lurking around every corner. Of course there are those moments of misery, that with time, you can look back at and see tiny rays of bliss. One of our most remembered family vacations was created from misery. We were vacationing in Panama City Beach in October 2018, when a category 5 hurricane hit PCB. We were forced to evacuate and end our trip after only one day. It was a series of unfortunate events, but we are able to look back at the trip and laugh. One of our favorite memories is when we were walking into an Atlanta motel at 2 o'clock in the morning and the handle of our cooler broke. All our food tumbled out into the motel parking lot. As we were all just standing there in misery, Izzy (who was nine at the time) shouted in horror, "my kiwis!". Now when we look back, we are able to laugh at the situation. Thus, bliss and misery truly are two sides of the same coin.
Thank you so much, Allie, for your kind words and for sharing your wisdom with a perfect story to illustrate the two sides of the same coin. I greatly appreciate you pointing out that in time we often can see the rays of bliss piercing through the misery we experienced. I also liked how you wrote that misery lurks around every corner. That imagery goes right to the heart of how we humans experience the uncertainty of life.
Izzy's "my kiwis!" is classic and I'll forever remember this story well!
Thank you for including the transcript with the audio. It is quite helpful.
This particular installment spoke to me. There are many instances where my life felt genuinely threatened & it never gets less terrifying. In many of those instances, I can recall leaning on a chant for strength. These were no "mantra" or "chant" in sanskrit or latin, or even a memorized prayer, but I would find myself repeating something made up in a moment.
One time while driving home through a surprise night-time blizzard with my febrile toddler in the backseat, it was "be calm, breathe, beware the false sense of security". So many times I've driven home, but none made me want to cry with joy like that moment. Pure terror, turned into my clearest mind, and resulted in a moment of bliss.
We often don't realize our power to control our minds until we're caught in chaos it's the one & only thing left we CAN control. Often, only then, truths are revealed and we discover bad-assery.
Thank you, Phia, for listening and sharing. I appreciate so much being gifted with your words of wisdom. Your mantras remind me of a vague memory of a teaching from Vajrayana Buddhism which talks about spontaneous, self-repeating mantras. (I'll need to do a bit of research to make sure I'm remembering correctly) But your chants seem to arise from a purity state of source energy.
To be able to shift from terror to clear mind to bliss inspires and comforts me because it makes evident of the nature of reality, and as you said, shows the power we all have to control our minds.
I love the phrase bad-assery, too! I may need to use that in an upcoming article with your permission. Also, thank you for telling me the script is helpful to have with the audio. I was unsure if it was necessary.
Your exposition is explosive and awesome. I stumbled upon your newsletter quite by happenstance - looking to link up with other "mental health-minded" types of writers and I am so glad I did!
What a beautiful post. Thank you for sharing this with us.
Thank you so much, Brandi! I think we ran into each other's work by the hand of serendipity, and I'm so glad we did! It's these kind of connections with writers and readers that make this Substack journey so worthwhile, so worth the vulnerability of sharing what I call 'soul' work.
Dear Renee, I am with you on this, bliss and misery are essentially counterparts. One cannot exists in it's essence without the other. Your prose is so poignantly weaved that it overpowered me like a wave. I'm glad to have found you. I love your work. Keep it up.
Thank you so very much for sharing, Swarnali. Your wisdom is always present, as evidence from your work. And your encouraging words are so touching and meaningful at the beginning of my Substack journey, especially because you are a master weaver of the written word.
Thank you for sharing your words which always leave me with peace and calm. I cannot say I am at peace with bliss and misery. The misery I experience makes me appreciate the bliss. Being born under the sign of Libra, I am always seeking balance which helps when I experience the lows in life knowing I will experience the highs. So glad I can listen to your voice here Renee.
Thank you, Denise, for your kind words. Writers need those at times, as we work so often in isolation. I question whether I am peace with it, too. I am often, but often I'm not. Remembering the balance is always the key for me. Thank you for staying tuned in and helping to burn the compassion compass brighter!
I love how, right in this moment, we are both pondering bliss and misery in the wild waters and winds! (See what I just posted, before hopping over here to read your latest offering!) I am constantly teetering on the edge—bliss pulling me forward, fear pulling me back. It seems life is a constant dance between the two and I don't know that we ever become completely okay with it. But I do know that the feelings thrown up are something I am prepared to acknowledge each and every day, and that must count for something. Thank you for sharing your wonderful words, that touch so deeply.
Thank you, Alice for offering your wisdom. And, yes, I just read your newest article and we are gliding on the same wave! It is a constant dance. I like to imagine the dance as a tornado we can do nothing about, but perhaps we can stabilize our minds enough so as to be the calm center. Your acceptance of feelings seems to me to be the golden key into balancing in that center. I'm going to listen again to your beautiful story now that we've had this exchange.
I live the bliss and misery every day! Like a dance, the two are always fighting for territory of my mind. This was born from my love and attachment to my children and living on alert to anything that might harm them. I know many mothers who have anxiety. I wonder if we are struggling with the same thing in various forms.
Thank you, Rachel, for sharing with a profound, real-life example of the dance between misery and bliss. Not being a mother myself, I can only guess that what you say is absolutely true. The attachment to children is said to be of the strongest type, and for good reason. That's why it's said in Tibetan Buddhism that taking vows as a married person is more difficult a path than a monk or nun.
I also agree with you that we all dance with this 'coin' and it has endless manifestations. Love with close ones is the most difficult because of the inevitable loss, or what we see as loss.
Such an amazing story, told by an even more amazing storyteller. Your experience evoke memories of my own young and naive travel experiences. I don't think there is anyone who escapes these kinds of experiences. It is from these adventures where we grow and learn. Also, without such tales we cannot truly appreciate the blissful moments we are lucky enough to encounter.
I think it is difficult to be at peace with the dance of misery and bliss, but we continue to pursue bliss even with the chance of misery lurking around every corner. Of course there are those moments of misery, that with time, you can look back at and see tiny rays of bliss. One of our most remembered family vacations was created from misery. We were vacationing in Panama City Beach in October 2018, when a category 5 hurricane hit PCB. We were forced to evacuate and end our trip after only one day. It was a series of unfortunate events, but we are able to look back at the trip and laugh. One of our favorite memories is when we were walking into an Atlanta motel at 2 o'clock in the morning and the handle of our cooler broke. All our food tumbled out into the motel parking lot. As we were all just standing there in misery, Izzy (who was nine at the time) shouted in horror, "my kiwis!". Now when we look back, we are able to laugh at the situation. Thus, bliss and misery truly are two sides of the same coin.
Thank you so much, Allie, for your kind words and for sharing your wisdom with a perfect story to illustrate the two sides of the same coin. I greatly appreciate you pointing out that in time we often can see the rays of bliss piercing through the misery we experienced. I also liked how you wrote that misery lurks around every corner. That imagery goes right to the heart of how we humans experience the uncertainty of life.
Izzy's "my kiwis!" is classic and I'll forever remember this story well!
Thank you for including the transcript with the audio. It is quite helpful.
This particular installment spoke to me. There are many instances where my life felt genuinely threatened & it never gets less terrifying. In many of those instances, I can recall leaning on a chant for strength. These were no "mantra" or "chant" in sanskrit or latin, or even a memorized prayer, but I would find myself repeating something made up in a moment.
One time while driving home through a surprise night-time blizzard with my febrile toddler in the backseat, it was "be calm, breathe, beware the false sense of security". So many times I've driven home, but none made me want to cry with joy like that moment. Pure terror, turned into my clearest mind, and resulted in a moment of bliss.
We often don't realize our power to control our minds until we're caught in chaos it's the one & only thing left we CAN control. Often, only then, truths are revealed and we discover bad-assery.
Thank you, Phia, for listening and sharing. I appreciate so much being gifted with your words of wisdom. Your mantras remind me of a vague memory of a teaching from Vajrayana Buddhism which talks about spontaneous, self-repeating mantras. (I'll need to do a bit of research to make sure I'm remembering correctly) But your chants seem to arise from a purity state of source energy.
To be able to shift from terror to clear mind to bliss inspires and comforts me because it makes evident of the nature of reality, and as you said, shows the power we all have to control our minds.
I love the phrase bad-assery, too! I may need to use that in an upcoming article with your permission. Also, thank you for telling me the script is helpful to have with the audio. I was unsure if it was necessary.
Your exposition is explosive and awesome. I stumbled upon your newsletter quite by happenstance - looking to link up with other "mental health-minded" types of writers and I am so glad I did!
What a beautiful post. Thank you for sharing this with us.
Thank you so much, Brandi! I think we ran into each other's work by the hand of serendipity, and I'm so glad we did! It's these kind of connections with writers and readers that make this Substack journey so worthwhile, so worth the vulnerability of sharing what I call 'soul' work.
Dear Renee, I am with you on this, bliss and misery are essentially counterparts. One cannot exists in it's essence without the other. Your prose is so poignantly weaved that it overpowered me like a wave. I'm glad to have found you. I love your work. Keep it up.
Thank you so very much for sharing, Swarnali. Your wisdom is always present, as evidence from your work. And your encouraging words are so touching and meaningful at the beginning of my Substack journey, especially because you are a master weaver of the written word.
I'm far from being a master dear Renee but your kind words means a lot to me. Blessings to you. 🌼