Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Walking into yourself

I have been thinking a lot about how people choose between denial and looking at things square in the face -  how and why they decide to choose the tougher, or easier option. The stories they tell themselves to justify the choice, the stories they are afraid to let go. And how when patterns form in your head, you are no longer conscious of the choice being made.

"You can try to cover up depression in many ways. You can listen to Bach's compositions for the organ in Our Saviour's Church. You can arrange a line of good cheer in powder form on a pocket mirror with a razor blade and ingest it with a straw. You can call for help. For instance, by telephone, so that you know who's listening.

That's the European method. Hoping to work your way out of your problems through action.

I take the Greenlandic way. It consists of walking into yourself in the dark mood. Putting your defeat under a microscope and dwelling on the sight."

from 'Smilla's Sense of Snow' by Peter Hoeg (1988), translated from Danish by Tina Nunnally

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