Have you learned more, been shaped more, by pain or love? Is your wisdom born of pain? Born more of love and kindness? I am mulling this over after reading Lafcadio Hearn’s poetry lectures. Writing on Browning’s Rabbi Ben Ezra, Hearn suggests:
“The first part of the poem, then, may be summarized this: old age is the flower and crown of life, because it is the age of wisdom, and all other years of life are but a preparation for it. The faults of youth are not to be despised nor unreasonably regretted; we learn only through making mistakes.”
And further …
“It is man’s duty, the poet says, to consider pain not as a misfortune but as a blessing. He has told us that we learn by mistakes, and that is only another way of saying that we learn wisdom through pain. It is pain that makes us wise, that makes us unselfish, that makes us good men.”
To tell the truth, I first thought of Helen Reddy singing ... “Yes, I am wise, but it’s wisdom born of pain. Yes, I’ll pay the price , but look how much I’ve gained, something something I am woman.” I was probably in 4th grade or 5th when that song came out and it was the first time I had heard of this “wisdom born of pain” idea. Today, at 45, I would say without a doubt that any wisdom I have is shaped more by love and kindness than pain. Sure, pain forged its share of kinks in my psyche, but on the whole I think I have been one lucky SOB.
What about you? Wisdom born of pain? Taxes? Bush administration? American Idol. Crazy parents? Brutal youth?
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2 comments:
"'Brutal Youth' for one hundred, Alex."
Wisdom, such as it is, born of getting sober. So I guess I also have to give some credit to all those years of drinking.
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