Quoting the book "Bittersweet", by Susan Cain

A dear friend recommended me this book, and my local Library had it! It has been bittersweet to read some of its passages, which sounds appropriate, right?

Here are a couple quotes, lines that were specially meaningful to me.

"Have you realized that you're part of a long and storied tradition that can help you transform your pain into beauty, your longing into belonging?" (p. 237)

"Or maybe you mourn your breakups, or your dead, which tells you that separation is the most fundamental of heartaches, but also that attachment is our deepest desire, and that you might transcend your grief when you perceive how connected you are with all the other humans who struggle to transcend theirs, and who emerge in fits and starts, bit by rocky bit, just like you." (p.238)

From the same book, here is something about how to cultivate compassion toward yourself and others.

But perhaps none of this is possible without first cultivating self-compassion. This may sound like the opposite of what you'd do to encourage humility. But many of us engage, without realizing it, in a constant stream of negative self-talk" "You are terrible at this". "Why did you screw that up?" But, as Jazaeri observes, "There's no empirical evidence to suggest that beating ourselves up will actually help us change our behavior; in fact, some data suggests that this type of criticism can move us away from our goals rather that towards them."

Conversely, the more gently we speak to ourselves, the more we'll do the same for others. So the next time that you hear that harsh internal voice, pause, take a breath - and try again.

(p. 22,23)

Check the book Bittersweet: How Sorrow and Longing Make Us Whole

by Susan Cain

Her website: https://susancain.net/

Poems that these quotes made me think of:

Read the poem "For Belonging", by John O'Donohue

Read the poem "Unbroken", by Rashani Rea

Read "About Standing (in Kinship)", by Kimberly Blaeser