Extremes lead us
far from reality
towards evil
iris is the rainbow
iris is temperance
where she is not
we find misfortune
let us not turn away from it
but see these things
for what they are
in this way
we ward ourselves
our own inner strivings
laid bare
for laid bare
they no longer consume us.
– matt at shadow of iris
Hi Matt
Thank you for your comments to “Our Own Personal Challenge: Ourselves”, I also like 1 Cor. 13.
You wrote: “I feel like shouting, leave me alone, don’t tell me what I need to do.”
You are perfectly justified, these quotes were taken from a book that would only be read by people already interested in the subject of love and the way Leo Buscaglia deals with it. I took these quotes out of context and a browsing reader ends up reading something he would have eschewed had he seen the book.
This is why I don’t read just any poetry, context and situation are lacking and some poets won’t furnish explanations, like you have done also, while I need to find explanations for everything. I never write a poem myself without a universe of meaning contained therein, and always reply to requests for explanations. I love poetry enclosed within context and situation as guidelines to find the answer to riddles posed. I respect your attitude to poetry, only it leaves no room for interaction, and I only read texts I can interact with.
You wrote “And what’s that mean anyway? Love …we can’t really exhort one another to love, so much as we just have to love.”
I respect your question and attitude, it is probably why you prefer reading Dostoevsky in confirmation of your own ideas. I like reading Buscaglia while steering clear of literature that reinforces a skeptical attitude. I think we subliminally absorb ideas we read and they colour our own perspective. I don’t want to return to the cynical disillusionment of my childhood and youth, and reading about fashionable cynicism and existentialism makes me depressed so I can’t function effectively.
I have assembled my own personal philosophy on a pragmatic and utilitarian basis – it WORKS – and guard it against cynical uncertainty, explaining how it came about in my poems, and only expecting respect for my viewpoint in as far as I respect all other viewpoints, believing they are all equally valid and people choose them based on the goal they have in life. I have decided what love means to me, how I want to live my life and what I’m striving for, and I respect those who have different opinions. Kind regards, Agent Snowflake.
Our Own Personal Challenge: Ourselves
Love yourself with genuine respect, interest, care
and concern, feeling excited and challenged with
the prospect of what you can become,
rediscover your uniqueness