I had just finished watching ‘Jojo Rabbit,’ on the recommendation of Mr. Top Of The Morning. (Thank you, Mr. TOTM! And that’s an amazing movie – a bittersweet blend of satire, drama, and beauty that made me laugh and cry). I was about to switch off the TV before the credits rolled when this quote flashed on the screen:
“Let everything happen to you. Beauty and terror. Just keep going. No feeling is final.” – Rainer Maria Rilke
I sat there, hands frozen on the remote and stared at those words. White against black. Just words floating through a moment stuck on the screen. On days when the world seems dark, when we float in the abyss of our minds, when our life seems stuck in second gear, when the traffic lights blink forever red, when the pain in our backs cripple our minds, when love shows its other face, when the shivering shadows of the past bury our light, when the feeling of being miserable echoes in every hollow of our beaten hearts, on such days, we need to remember these words: Just keep going. No feeling is final.
And hard as it is to believe on such days, I do know that it is true. No feeling is final. Not the feeling of being in love or the feeling of being heartbroken. Not the feeling of having lost a job or the feeling of having got a new job. Not the feeling of running with the wind on our backs and not the feeling of lying in bed, weakened and struggling. No feeling is final – the ephemeral feeling of happiness or the heaviness of despair.
To simply breathe and allow everything to happen to you. Maybe, that’s the beauty and terror of living. And you know what? We keep going.
I don’t know where I will reach. I don’t know if I should know that destination. I don’t know if I should just stop and put down that weary backpack of life and look at the stars and say, “I am done.” I am tired of knowing and tired of not knowing.
But.
For today though, let’s just keep going. Embrace this day. Let’s make friends with beauty and terror and perhaps realize there’s no difference.
Isn’t it ironic that the same thing that gives you hope in times of despair also makes you sad when you realize how ephemeral happiness is?
Life strikes me as a duality at times. 🙂
I agree, Restless Eccentric. But the more I think about happiness, the more I sometimes feel true joy is not ephemeral – we tend to think of happiness as a feeling and that it goes away the minute we are sad. But what if we can be happy even with the sad? What if we are happy with the challenges? What if we are happy with the conflicts?
I like it. That no feeling is final. Life will always present us with new joys and new trials. As we plod along, we can be happy with the thought that things will change and life will not be stagnant. I think it’s quite the adventure.
Thanks, Poodle. I guess it really is an adventure. Haha, think of all the adventures we have had! One day, we will sit on a bench when we are 80, munching on corn and green chillies and popcorn, and think about all of these mis-adventures.