21 Comments

Weird how resilience feels more like this, and less like STRENGTH

Expand full comment
May 13, 2020Liked by Courtney Martin

What I love most of all is her little big toe poking out of a hole in her footie pjs, so determined to be free. xoS

Expand full comment
Apr 30, 2020Liked by Courtney Martin

That little book has helped me so

Many times. It was the first book I always consulted on my desk during my years of working in public health. Before I looked at the all the tomes, I’d start small. LOVE. This piece. So happy I discovered it during this wild time. Xo jess

Expand full comment
Apr 30, 2020Liked by Courtney Martin

Thank you for this today ❤️

Expand full comment

That very same little book is the one I take with me on every trip. It lives in my suitcase. You reminded me to take it out and read it now, too. I bought my copy in a little bookstore in the world trade center about 3 months before 9/11, another time when it helped me immensely. Thank you for the reminder.

Expand full comment
Apr 29, 2020Liked by Courtney Martin

This is exactly what I needed to read - and is going on my 'reread it several times and let it sink in' list. THANK YOU for your words.

Expand full comment
Apr 29, 2020Liked by Courtney Martin

I never exercise, but i felt compelled to these days. Took a free zoom yoga class today. I was the only one who showed up, but the instructor held it anyway. It felt like a gift. At the end, we both teared up when i told her i'm from Romania. How unlikely and precious to share time with a stranger, from the isolation of our homes, an ocean apart. Everything feels precious.

Expand full comment
Apr 29, 2020Liked by Courtney Martin

I feel this one. I actually used a longer version of that first quote in an artist talk I gave back in 2017. It is a lesson I've been learning on rotation since 2014 and as many times as I have circled through it, I circle again taking something new and being reminded of something old and exhaling everything ... trying to find my feet on the ground. You are not alone.

Expand full comment

Beautifully said. It is indeed laborious to walk through the daily fog. I often stumble and struggle to stand again knowing the path we walk is the one less traveled.

Expand full comment

Thank you so much for this essay. I have read it many times and shared with friends. I have parts taped to my desk. I pulled out my Pema books and reminded myself how this works. Your sentence, "I’m trying to resist the urge to stitch it back together with my own shaking hands." hit me like a bolt. The urge to fix it while you are still in shock is visceral. Your naming that anxiety was so helpful to me. It opened up a lot of space, as Pema would say. Thank you.

Expand full comment
deletedApr 29, 2020Liked by Courtney Martin
Comment deleted
Expand full comment