Sunday, May 14, 2006

The Long Loneliness (109-138)

Yes, I am still reading the Long Loneliness. What with buying a house, getting in final grades, graduation, etc., I'm behind. What else is new?

I'm also slogging through this section because a lot of it is about the joy of giving birth, how every woman's deepest desire is to be a mother, etc.

But I don't mean to be glib.

Clearly having a child was an important paradigm shift in Day's life, and reading about it did make me think about how living for someone other than yourself can be clarifying for those facing existential, theological, or religious quandries.

Day writes:

"I had been passing through some years of fret and strife, beauty and ugliness--even some weeks of sadness and despair. There had been periods of intense joy but seldom had there been the quiet beauty and happiness I had now" (135).

Nothing profound, but one of the interesting aspects of Day's writing is the way in which she differentiates similar emotional states. It leads to my thinking about what the difference might be between happiness and joy, sadness and despair, etc.

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