I told you I couldn't put the book down! Although I haven't finished it, I'm well on my way. The need for sleep got to me and falling asleep on the couch, sitting up, wasn't an option. ( I wrote this on day 2. I finished it the next morning over my english muffin and rice milk). This post isn't really themed or in any particular order - just some quotes I pulled out and had a desire to share.
"And because Mary possessed so much power as a female, it had to trickle down and empower women at least some, giving them new ways to see themselves." p. 96
Although the context of the first quote has nothing to do specifically with my experiences, I was very involved in reading the book and tying myself in, like I was one part Sue and one part Ann. I like to believe that females have power. Granted, I'm not a feminist by any means, but knowing I am strong and have power over myself, is all that matters.
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"Persephone never saw Hades coming. She was jerked out of her nice, sweet life and plunged into a dark underworld. On one level, she was abducted into her own depths, forced into a deep and painful confrontation with herself. Yet the time she spent in the underworld is precisely what transforms her from a naive, untested girl into a mature and conscious young woman. I reread the part of the myth in which Persephone eats the pomegranate seeds. Is that the moment she accepts the complexity of her experience and really takes it in? I wonder: instead of retrating and hiding, instead of pining for the way it was, what if I accept the way it is? This strikes me as both the most obvious thing in the world and the most profound." p. 83
The question in purple is what "got" to me while reading. My entire life has been a mess of saying one thing and doing another, where I'm hiding from myself and from the outside world, but at the same time I'm putting on a show. There are days where I still do this. I wish I had things like they were back in K-12 years or in college when I had the opportunity to go out each Thursday night with some amazing girls. The list could go on - I do miss a lot of things, but I realize those things have shaped me into who I am now. I just need to accept things the way that they are, but have the strength to try to change them to suit my current needs - which is the difficult part.
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"...I read a poem by David Whyte with four lines that nearly stopped my heart:
You must learn one thing.
The world was made to be free in.
Give up all the other worlds
except the one to which you belong.
I question my interpretation of this, primarily because I can see the real and imaginary part of this quote. We only have one world, yet in this world there are mini-worlds or our expectations, families, careers, etc. I didn't give up my family world for my career, but I can see how others may see this, considering I live 1300 miles away (or more) from the majority of my family. I don't know what world I belong in - that's part of the journey I'm on with this blog. I'm not sure where to go from there...
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"Tonight, when I climb into bed in our hotel room, I will realize those lines are my "St. Michael" voice, spelling out my mission: find the world to which I belong." p. 153
