Direkt zum Hauptbereich

What is sacred?

This is a text, which was first published on Valley Haggards page Life in 10 Minuntes. A great page from a great writer and I always feel proud, when she chooses to publish one of my pieces. The text is about one year old, so dating back to April of 2017, but funny enough, it still is totally true. I am even less moody 😘


What is sacred?
I read this headline today. It was the title of an inspiring piece of writing by Linda Laino, a wonderful artist and mutual friend of me and my friends from Richmond. It got me thinking.
What is sacred, for me? 
Deep down, I always knew, that the sacred was everywhere, that it was the underground of human life, of my life in particular.
Still, it was difficult for me to reach. 
At times, I felt, nothing was sacred. And I wasn’t even depressed, at least not diagnosed, ever. I was very moody, though. I accepted it. My moodiness and the impossibility to reach the sacred.
When I first came to Richmond, I joined a poetry group, which was one of the most inspiring and satisfying writing experiences (therefore sacred), I ever had. My friend Susan, at whose house we regularly got together, out in the West End, was on Prozac. She said, it had saved her life. For months, she tried to convince me, moody as I so obviously was, to also take Prozac, or maybe Lithium. Both were supposed to be great. I don’t know, but I was stubborn and German. I felt, my moods were part of me and also a huge lesson. They taught me truth every day. Somehow, my moods were sacred. I did not want to numb them. Since they seemed to reach deep down into my soul, dragging out all that stuff, I dealt with from the past: my alcoholic, suicidal father, my negative, always complaining mother, the fact, that nobody would ever be able to love me, I mean: E V E R!
The moods, arising from all this, plus my tendency to fall for rather complicated and negative men, fed my poems, my writing in general, but also my learning.
O.k., o.k., if anybody would have told me, that it would take about 25 years to get through all this, I might have decided to listen to Susan. I don’t know. I always thought, that the truth was close, basically a days‘ journey away. This faith, it was also sacred and got me through this long journey.
The moods, the ups and also the downs, the tears, the gnawing on the past, the hurt, the pain, the anxiety, the fear, the hysteria, the darkness – they all were sacred, to me. They taught me all I know today, about life and what it’s worth.
They were my path. Sacred. One lesson following the next.
What is sacred?
Maybe to be here, as a human being, capable to learn so much, to feel so deeply. Sacred is also the moment, in which I understood, that the past is the past, now and here, only kindness matters.
In particular are sacred all those moments, I spend on my yoga mat, also the ones with friends, soulmates, my children, the writing moments, they are very sacred, also the meditation. The moments in nature, and of course, travelling.
I started a habit, some years ago, filling a glass jar every year with notes, every time, I felt especially happy. It should be called „the sacred jar“, because in fact, I fill it with notes of all the sacred moments. I have a tendency to establish rules. My rule here is: each time, you put a note in this years‘ jar, you are allowed to take one out from last years‘ jar and enjoy it.
Every note revokes pure bliss. Sacred. 
By the way: I am not moody any more. Not so much, at least. Going through all my moods, not numbing them, was a journey. I am glad, I traveled!
(c) Susanne Becker



Kommentare

Beliebte Posts aus diesem Blog

100 bemerkenswerte Bücher - Die New York Times Liste 2013

Die Zeit der Buchlisten ist wieder angebrochen und ich bin wirklich froh darüber, weil, wenn ich die mittlerweile 45 Bücher gelesen habe, die sich um mein Bett herum und in meinem Flur stapeln, Hallo?, dann weiß ich echt nicht, was ich als nächstes lesen soll. Also ist es gut, sich zu informieren und vorzubereiten. Außerdem sind die Bücher nicht die gleichen Bücher, die ich im letzten Jahr hier  erwähnt hatte. Manche sind die gleichen, aber zehn davon habe ich gelesen, ich habe auch andere gelesen (da fällt mir ein, dass ich in den nächsten Tagen, wenn ich dazu komme, ja mal eine Liste der Bücher erstellen könnte, die ich 2013 gelesen habe, man kann ja mal angeben, das tun andere auch, manche richtig oft, ständig, so dass es unangenehm wird und wenn es bei mir irgendwann so ist, möchte ich nicht, dass Ihr es mir sagt, o.k.?),  und natürlich sind neue hinzugekommen. Ich habe Freunde, die mir Bücher unaufgefordert schicken, schenken oder leihen. Ich habe Freunde, die mir Bücher aufgeford

Und keiner spricht darüber von Patricia Lockwood

"There is still a real life to be lived, there are still real things to be done." No one is ever talking about this von Patricia Lockwood wird unter dem Namen:  Und keiner spricht darüber, übersetzt von Anne-Kristin Mittag , die auch die Übersetzerin von Ocean Vuong ist, am 8. März 2022 bei btb erscheinen. Gestern tauchte es in meiner Liste der Favoriten 2021 auf, aber ich möchte mehr darüber sagen. Denn es ist für mich das beste Buch, das ich im vergangenen Jahr gelesen habe und es ist mir nur durch Zufall in die Finger gefallen, als ich im Ebert und Weber Buchladen  meines Vertrauens nach Büchern suchte, die ich meiner Tochter schenken könnte. Das Cover sprach mich an. Die Buchhändlerin empfahl es. So simpel ist es manchmal. Dann natürlich dieser Satz, gleich auf der ersten Seite:  "Why did the portal feel so private, when you only entered it when you needed to be everywhere?" Dieser Widerspruch, dass die Leute sich nackig machen im Netz, das im Buch immer &q

Writing at the Fundacion Valparaiso in Mojacar, Spain

„…and you too have come into the world to do this, to go easy, to be filled with light, and to shine.“ Mary Oliver I am home from my first writing residency with other artists. In Herekeke , three years ago, I was alone with Miss Lilly and my endlessly talkative mind. There were also the mesa, the sunsets, the New Mexico sky, the silence and wonderful Peggy Chan, who came by once a day. She offers this perfect place for artists, and I will be forever grateful to her. The conversations we had, resonate until today within me. It was the most fantastic time, I was given there, and the more my time in Spain approached, I pondered second thoughts: Should I go? Could I have a time like in Herekeke somewhere else, with other people? It seemed unlikely. When I left the airport in Almeria with my rental car, I was stunned to find, that the andalusian landscape is so much like New Mexico. Even better, because, it has an ocean too. I drove to Mojacar and to the FundacionValparaiso