Truth in Sadness
I'll be honest, I didn't fully think this thought through before I put it down in digital print. This has been on my mind for about a year or two now, and yet to reach its conclusive statement.
Sadness. It surrounds us. It's unpleasant for some, not a major bother for others and for the rest, perhaps a passing phase to be endured. I like to think about sadness though. To me, sadness is a very earnest emotion. There is something intensely truthful about it. Sadness is bitter, it's raw, and honestly, it's a good measure of the quality of people you let in your life.
The sayings that stress on people being there for your bad times as well as the good times, they're not wrong you know...
And more than other people, I've discovered a lot more about myself in times of sadness that I have in happiness. I've been able to retain my principles, my grounds, and my ideas much more strongly and clearly in moments of sadness. There is ultimately sadness waiting for us at the end of the road, in one form or the other. Whether it's a loss, disappointment, accident, misunderstanding, separation or anything, there is an inevitable force to sadness that is almost completely certain and true.
As a younger person, I would have hated hearing this from myself. For the longest time, I was vehemently protesting against myself under the illusion of everything having a happy ending. I'm not saying life and its circumstances have robbed me of my ability to see the silver lining, however, they have certainly made me more appreciative of what sadness contributes.
Some of my memorable moments are ones of unbearable grief. As shitty as that sounds, some days I think the human that I was in those very moments were perhaps some of the most honest parts of me that rose up to the surface.
While this so far sounds like a glorification of sadness, let me shift your attention from the celebration of sadness to the truth of it.
Being sad sucks. It does; even if it bears creative or artistic fruits, it still sucks. The price you pay for the clarity of sadness is that it wreaks havoc on your system. There is intense physical pain, mental exhaustion and sometimes even self-harming practices that come with sadness. There is nothing pretty about sadness and sometimes it costs people their mental health. What I want to look at within this entanglement of sadness and grief is what it has taught to those who have lived it every day. How their perspectives have changed and how they have adjusted to life after that sadness has made way into their daily grind. And just so there are no misunderstandings, when I refer to sadness, I do mean an impactful sadness. Something that has moved you enough to alter your mindset in a significant way.
If you feel like you can't relate, maybe you have been lucky in life so far but I think upon deeper introspection, you'll be able to dial back to a specific incident that was really hurtful and moved you. The standards with which you judge that particular incident are up to you but you do have to consider the "truth" aspect of it. You have to come out of that grief, that sadness, realizing something new.
The wise aren't necessarily happy, they've just understood sadness better than the rest.
----------------------------------------------------------X--------------------------------------------------------------
- This is a rather raw thought process that I'm putting up for your comments and feedback to nuance this notion further. I'll be interested in maybe writing a part two for this as well, where I try to inspect what about sadness do I find so truthful.
As always, thank you so much for reading and keeping in touch. I look forward to hearing from you again readers. :)
- Shreeparna
Sadness. It surrounds us. It's unpleasant for some, not a major bother for others and for the rest, perhaps a passing phase to be endured. I like to think about sadness though. To me, sadness is a very earnest emotion. There is something intensely truthful about it. Sadness is bitter, it's raw, and honestly, it's a good measure of the quality of people you let in your life.
The sayings that stress on people being there for your bad times as well as the good times, they're not wrong you know...
And more than other people, I've discovered a lot more about myself in times of sadness that I have in happiness. I've been able to retain my principles, my grounds, and my ideas much more strongly and clearly in moments of sadness. There is ultimately sadness waiting for us at the end of the road, in one form or the other. Whether it's a loss, disappointment, accident, misunderstanding, separation or anything, there is an inevitable force to sadness that is almost completely certain and true.
As a younger person, I would have hated hearing this from myself. For the longest time, I was vehemently protesting against myself under the illusion of everything having a happy ending. I'm not saying life and its circumstances have robbed me of my ability to see the silver lining, however, they have certainly made me more appreciative of what sadness contributes.
Some of my memorable moments are ones of unbearable grief. As shitty as that sounds, some days I think the human that I was in those very moments were perhaps some of the most honest parts of me that rose up to the surface.
While this so far sounds like a glorification of sadness, let me shift your attention from the celebration of sadness to the truth of it.
Being sad sucks. It does; even if it bears creative or artistic fruits, it still sucks. The price you pay for the clarity of sadness is that it wreaks havoc on your system. There is intense physical pain, mental exhaustion and sometimes even self-harming practices that come with sadness. There is nothing pretty about sadness and sometimes it costs people their mental health. What I want to look at within this entanglement of sadness and grief is what it has taught to those who have lived it every day. How their perspectives have changed and how they have adjusted to life after that sadness has made way into their daily grind. And just so there are no misunderstandings, when I refer to sadness, I do mean an impactful sadness. Something that has moved you enough to alter your mindset in a significant way.
If you feel like you can't relate, maybe you have been lucky in life so far but I think upon deeper introspection, you'll be able to dial back to a specific incident that was really hurtful and moved you. The standards with which you judge that particular incident are up to you but you do have to consider the "truth" aspect of it. You have to come out of that grief, that sadness, realizing something new.
The wise aren't necessarily happy, they've just understood sadness better than the rest.
----------------------------------------------------------X--------------------------------------------------------------
- This is a rather raw thought process that I'm putting up for your comments and feedback to nuance this notion further. I'll be interested in maybe writing a part two for this as well, where I try to inspect what about sadness do I find so truthful.
As always, thank you so much for reading and keeping in touch. I look forward to hearing from you again readers. :)
- Shreeparna
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