When you seek safety behind a self-protective shield of cynicism, you don’t see that life is nuanced. But being able to cope is how you become a more fully functioning agent in your own life and in the world. More than likely you’ll uncover some scary, painful, and unpleasant stuff along the way. You’ll encounter lots of middle, no-big-deal stuff, too. But if you’re looking for it, you’ll also see there’s lots of good stuff happening, all the time. Cynicism can’t afford this view of life’s subtleties; it paints from a palette of black and white. Behind immovable ideas of who and what is and isn’t to be trusted, you remain isolated. But instead of making you stronger, this stance keeps you from developing the resilience you gain when you bounce back from the fall, the heartbreak, the stolen wallet. Your ability to deal with difficulties, learn from them, and move on, determines whether you thrive or merely survive.

~Elaine Smookler

breathing that simple air of failure and resiliency…..no place for cynicism there……

inquiry for today~  where are the feelings today that are too big for a cynical silence?

mercy

and the writing

be of words, slow and quick, sharp

to strike, quiet to wait,

sleepless.

through metaphor to reconcile

the people and the stones.

~William Carlos Williams