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Sep 17, 2022

"Longing is momentum in disguise: It's active, not passive; touched with the creative, the tender, and the divine. " --Susan Cain

The Power of the Bittersweet

"The bittersweet is...an authentic and elevating response to the problem of being alive in a deeply flawed yet stubbornly beautiful world. Most of all, bittersweetness shows us how to respond to pain: by acknowledging it, and attempting to turn it into art, the way the musicians do, or healing, or innovation, or anything else that nourishes the soul. If we don't transform our sorrows and longings, we can end up inflicting them on others via abuse, domination, neglect. But if we realize that all humans know -- or will know -- loss and suffering, we can turn toward each other." Best-selling author Susan Cain's new book is titled, "Bittersweet: How Sorrow and Longing Make Us Whole." Maria Popova explores some of its themes here.