Joy in the sorrow

Mark Ruffalo quoting Joseph Campbell on Fresh Air:

Joyful participation in the sorrow of the living.

Driving home from work last night, listening to Ruffalo's gentle voice sharing his life story, I felt akin to that quote. Deep within me. I fumbled in the dark for a pen and wrote it down blindly while keeping my eyes sharply on the road ahead, a couple of tears prickling into my eyes from the beauty of the expression. I thought to myself, "I must blog about this."

For I have always felt that I, too, participate joyfully, wondrously, in the human condition, even as my heart is breaking.

Comments

[mb]

That is a wonderful quote. Thanks.

[tamarika]

Tess,
Here is another great quote by Joseph Campbell that I just happened to see yesterday:

"People talk about the meaning of life; there is no meaning of life - there are lots of meanings of different lives, and you must decide what you want your own to be."

[Tess]

A wonderful quote, and I'm reminded that it was also Joseph Campbell who advised us to "follow our bliss". I've lived half-heartedly for too much of my life. Enough already.

[Dean Landsman]

Heartbreak has been known to manifest as a bizarre, perverse from of cardio-calisthenics. The end result is a better toned sense of matters of the heart. Tougher, more durable, better prepared for the next go-round.

And, much like regular old exercise, it isn't suitable for everybody.

One releases endorphins. The other releases phantom echoes, reminders of, or residual, pain. But release is the key word.

And no matter what, life goes on. The beat, so to speak, goes on.