Theresarrt http://journals.aol.com/theresarrt7/TheresaWilliams-author/entries/740 answered her queries so beautifully that she gave me the courage to comment, asking her to question me. Her queries sre so thought provoking that I can`t answer the five in one post. In this post, I`ll try to reply to #1 !
1. The epigram on your blog is: "to grow is to be anxious." Would you elaborate on why this statement has such a strong appeal for you?
For me, May`s quote “To grow is to be anxious” addresses the question of neurotic symptomatology at its core. Why do our own “demons” continually exert such power in our everyday lives? No matter the constellation of symptoms defending our ego against the world [ depression; obsessions; compulsions;narcissism; etc. ] they have become so familiar to us that they seem to BE us! These defensive postures become such a reflexive display for us that they define our character to others. {Boy, she`s self-centered; He`s really obsessive}
May`s quote focuses us on why we invest so much energy in our comfortable defenses. The central issue to being human is to Become; to be all that we can reach. Yet each positive striving for growth is accompanied by a fear of the unknown; in actuality, fear of dissolution.
Rather than face this most terrible of fears, we fall back on the defensive systems that we have learned through our life experience. {Example; if you place a rat in the center of a room, it will automatically run to safety, to the wall.}
For May, we must remember, to the best of our ability, that every striving to Become, to grow, is accompanied by anxiety. Anxiety is an organism`s natural response to new situations and must be understood as such. It is our ability to face these situations of growth and do our best to not allow the opportunities to pass; to not be swallowed up in the comforting defenses that we have nourished all of our lives, that permit us to Become what our abilities will allow!
A tall order, for sure! Many Existentialists call this the striving to become a Hero or an Artist. For them, and for me, it is what makes us an image of the Creator.
V
19 comments:
Just a note...This is all my writing and personal interpretation of the Quote. I haven`t read May`s books in many years.
V
This is awesome reply.
Hugs,
Michelle
Sometimes you remind me so much of someone in this lifetime that meant so much to me, maybe it was anotehr life, or maybe it's just here and now in J-Land.
why we invest so much energy in our comfortable defenses
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Vince, this is one awesome reply. I have to say, I just love the above statement. I feel it is so true of everyone's life (all but the truly enlightened and I don't count myself as among them!). What if we took that energy--and you're right, we expend so much of our inner resources on defending ourselves against the raw truth of our existence-- and used it to make art? To do good in the world? To love each other? This would be a fabulous world, would it? Thanks so much for taking so much time with the question. I want to link your answer to my own blog, because I want to come back here often.
Vince, I've noticed "to grow is to be anxious" up on your site for quite a while. Today it seems to make sense, but I would not have figured this out without your clear presentation and discussion. When I asked what kind of demon you gave me the example of my abusive grandfather. I'm thinking now that another demon is my hunger for food. I turn to feed it often. It seems that it is a much easier path to turn my attention to these things than to face my current anxiety ... say facing the obstacles of school. It's like see, I can't be successful, because these things are "in my way." It's almost like each spurt of energy gets channeled wrongly as if that choice were the one down river. To be continued
My cognitive priority is fleeting like a bird overhead. A wise therapist once warned me of this probability of choosing the easier path. For me it was easier to be crazy than to be a normal person with problems. Let's add thinking we are crazy to that list along grandfather and being fat. I've heard from this same therapist of the fear of dissolution. Maybe next time you could explain why this fear is so omnipresent? I warn you though ... never before have I looked so forward to becoming anxious again ... We say full forward! TESTS ... YAYYY!!! well little ugg. :)
Couldn't resist ... do you know about 30% of the first graduate class is going to be about being a scholar practitioner. Wow scholar ... I'm pretty sure that is next to Godliness in our book!
Agreement>>>
Is that my best bud Vince treading on my filosofical
Toes? Never mind~i won't get schpilkas; the permutes
of Life have got me in their grip. But i fall asleep in
Meditation, eastern, that,"All is Maya." Truth enuf^
chekyalata--the bowing slack
Vince,
Interview me, if you are game.
I never took the time to think about what it meant but your explanation made it all click into logic. Thanks. : )
Candace
I've often thought about the meaning of this - thank you for clearing it up for me.
Monica
http://journals.aol.com/photographybymon/Mamarazzi/
http://journals.aol.com/sonensmilinmon/SmilinMonsAdventures/
Well said.. very well said..
Great entry :) And so accurate. It takes strength to grow past one's own self imposed limitations... once you think you've identified them... only to peel back one layer of the onion... Hmmm. Sometimes, I simply prefer to stick my head in the sand ;) L, Jenn
Wonderfully said! I enjoyed your elaboration and I agree. :)
wonderful. judi
thanks for explaining that...I had wondered what it meant too!
~ www.jerseygirljournal.com
Hopped over here from another journal - and I see you a lot on Theresa's. This is an excellent entry and makes a great deal of sense. On a personal note, I experience much anxiety, and once had the privilege of asking Ram Dass his opinion of how to deal with it. He held his palm up to his face and blew gently. Easier said than done, but I understand that once the existence of anxiety is acknowledged as a side-effect (rather than pre-requisite) for growth, then perhaps it can be dealt with more comfortably, if that isn't an oxymoron. =
Thanks for such a clear explanation,
http://www.livejournal.com/users/vxv789/
you opened up a whole deal of deep thought with your epigram! I for one do not like to be anxious, it is so uncomforable. But hey that is what makes us grow, to get out of our little comfort zone.
Peace
I am so glad I didn't miss this entry! It's wonderful to hear from you in this manner.
As I read your response, it made me think of the movie "What the Bleep Do We Know." In a portion of it, it talks about being addicted to certain emotions and once you are able to identify what that addiction is you can work to disengage yourself from the addiction. (Not an indepth explanation.) If you haven't seen the movie, you might be interested. Very thought provoking! :-) ---Robbie
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