Inspiration from Rainer Maria Rilke: Feelings
July 12, 2009
All feelings are pure which gather you and lift you up; a feeling is impure which takes hold of only one side of your being and so distorts you.
Everything that you could think in the light of your childhood is good. Everything which makes more of you than you have previously been in your best hours, is right.
Every exaltation is good if it is in your whole blood, if it is not intoxication or turbidness, but joy into whose depths you can see.
Do you understand what I mean?
And your doubt can become a good quality if you train it. It must become aware, it must become criticism.
Ask it, whenever it wants to spoil something for you, why something is ugly, demand proofs from it, test it, and you will perhaps find it helpless and nonplussed, perhaps also aggressive.
But do not give way, demand arguments and conduct yourself thus carefully and consistently every single time, and the day will dawn when it will become, instead of a subverter, one of your best workmen, perhaps the cleverest of all who are building at your life.
**
This passage was taken from the book, Letters to a Young Poet
One of my favorite things about Rainer Maria Rilke is that he was the romantic plaything of Lou Andreas-Salomé after she dumped Nietzsche, while she was celibately married to Carl Friedrich Andreas. You can read more about that juicy relationship in the book, Rilke and Andreas-Salomé: A Love Story in Letters
Why do I like this about him? Because it means he lived, he felt, he doubted, and he suffered. Rilke didn’t just write pretty poems about butterflies in the garden; he wrote about deep internal conflicts, overwhelming emotions, and the power of solitude.
The first part of this passage, to me, is about the difference between instant gratification and lasting happiness. It’s about the importance of living a life that is a clear reflection of who you are inside… your very best self. It tells us how to recognize when what we are doing is right.
The second part is about self doubt… that nagging voice that questions everything we do and wants us to believe we are incapable of great things. Don’t believe that cynical voice; question everything it says. Train that voice so that it is working for you instead of against you, helping you assess your best options and make the best possible choices.
But that’s just my interpretation.
What does it mean to you?
Related posts:
- Inspiration from Dr. Seuss: The Waiting Place
- Why Worry? Avoiding Feelings of Stress, Anxiety, and Helplessness
- Inspiration from A Bee Movie: Nothing is Impossible
- Inspiration from Christopher Reeve: What is a Hero?
- Inspiration from Thich Nhat Hanh
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I feel it is about balance.
When you are feeling down, you are unbalanced. When you are unbalanced you are misaligned with your true feelings (desires) and you will have bad feelings (feel sad, angry, etc.)
I guess learn to balance your
Jim Gaudet´s last blog ..Google Code | Let’s Make the Web Faster
Oh, no! The last part of that got cut off… now we’ll never know the answer, the way to be happy!
Actually, that quote is my favorite part of the whole passage, because I feel like if you are doing something you know to be “wrong” (in your own mind, not in some huge societal or religious sense), then you are divided. When you live a double life it is nearly impossible to find inner peace and happiness. I think your outer life has to be a clear reflection of who you are inside in order to find that balance.
Thanks for your comment (or, most of it anyway!)
Lsis,
“Because it means he lived, he felt, he doubted, and he suffered.”
Which means he lived. Why do we want it to be any other way?
Stephen – Rat Race Trap´s last blog ..Finding Your True Self
Absolutely true, Stephen… feeling, doubting and suffering are all part of life. Now that you posed the question, I’m trying to imagine what life would be like if we did not do any of these… seems kinda boring, no?
Happy Sunday!!
I completely agree with what you said in your comment above, Lisis. If we didn’t have those things – hard as they are at times – life would be really boring. Have you read “The Year of Magical Thinking”? I’m reading it now and, for some reason, it really comes to mind when I think about suffering and feeling.
Positively Present´s last blog ..saying no to negativity is as easy as ABC(DE)
Hey, Dani… I have not read “The Year of Magical Thinking”. In fact, I wish I’d seen this comment an hour ago, because I was AT Barnes & Noble and could’ve picked it up. That sounds like a book that is right up my alley. I think I’m getting ready to have a year of magical thinking starting August 1st. I’ll have to tell you all about it in a post one of these Mondays.
I’m off to find that book on amazon!
I love Rilke (and the photo is beautiful, too)! Great post today, Lisis.
I agree with what you had to say about the passage you posted. For me, the last lines hold deep meaning:
“But do not give way, demand arguments and conduct yourself thus carefully and consistently every single time, and the day will dawn when it will become, instead of a subverter, one of your best workmen, perhaps the cleverest of all who are building at your life..”
Basically, to me this says to simply wake up in ease, trust the day to unfold, be who you are, and don’t judge your every move. Just trust your life will fall into place if you head down the road in the direction you want to go.
Lovely interpretation little miss Lori. And I’m glad you liked the picture because I struggled to find something that would fit with this post. It’s so much easier when I start from a photo and write a post to go with it!
Thanks for stopping by today… and just in time; I’m heading to the movies now!
Have a great one!
Wow! I gotta grab a copy of this book. Thanks for bringing Rilke to my life, Lisis.
You’re welcome, Deanna!
There are actually several books about these interesting literary types… “You Alone Are Real to Me”, “My Sister, My Spouse”, and “When Nietzsche Wept” to name a few. Literature and Poetry are so much more exciting when you learn the back story, don’t you think?
Thanks for this — I liked the part about embracing your doubt, as opposed to pushing it away or hating it. Acknowledging our fearful parts seems to me like a great way to make peace with them and get choice around them.
Love stories always get to me. I don’t know if its the romantic me that comes out..or the soul searching me? Especially if its a true story. The height of passion and emotion in every line can be felt.
The passage you chose i think deals with the inner conflict. The conflict of right and wrong…the conscious mind wondering which way to go…and the easier of the roads is usually the wrong one.
Our feeling are our driving force. Without feeling we would be like “moving human shaped clay”. There would be no difference between us and the statues we see all around us.
“But do not give way, demand arguments and conduct yourself thus carefully and consistently every single time, and the day will dawn when it will become, instead of a subverter, one of your best workmen, perhaps the cleverest of all who are building at your life.”
In this passage the inner conscience is at its best…telling us how not to let our guard down..and do things without thinking about them first. And in time it will become one of our best friend and advisors. But the most important part is to BE CONCIOUS.
Alright ..now thats what i think…:)
See how your lovely posts alway get my mind jogging…but hey keep them coming.
Zeenat Merchant Syal´s last blog ..Sometimes i Just wonder…
Thanks Chris and Zeenat! Both of you alluded to the significance of the second part, the feelings of doubt and insecurity that tend to be our own worst enemies… at first. It’s so important to acknowledge, accept and master these emotions.
Zeenat, I love what you said about the inner conflict. That’s why I mentioned the messy romantic backstory, because it makes it clear that Rilke struggled with these inner conflicts and used them as a source of inspiration.
Thank you for thinking about this and sharing your thoughts with me!