Endure, Accomodate: Become

She is not a romantic. Illness does not necessarily produce insight. Mostly it does not. It must be endured, accommodated. Our struggles towards health can accommodate what looks like disease. If the shaking woman is extended a measure of tolerance, she can become a companion in endeavour. 

~ Hilary Mantel, in her review of The Shaking Woman or A History of My Nerves by Siri Hustvedt. 

I have spent a lot of my life believing that if I didn't acknowledge things that they would go away. But that's not how things work! I have been truly blessed to finally find folk who recognize that ignoring abuse doesn't make it disappear. Ignoring abuse allows your abuser to continue.

(via)

There's this other idea of the creative pathos; creativity doesn't come from suffering. Creativity comes from hard work. Suffering isn't noble. Pain isn't romantic. Like the quote says, being ill doesn't magically make you wise. Running away doesn't fix the problem; ignoring it doesn't help you.You're going to have to confront the situation and then figure out what you can do. That's how you get wise: learning how to fix problems through experience.

• When going through a difficulty, you must recognize that it is happening. 

• Recognize and accommodate.

• Pretending you aren't sad, sick, or tired doesn't make you feel better. 

Creativity as Practice

I am coming to understand that the most important practice is to create. And I mean that as both an individual and as a professional. It is the act of creating that gives an inspiration for further creating. So it is necessary to be in constant motion and thought about motion in rudder to maintain a spark. The motion must be forward and the reflection must be on the past. I must constantly remember what I have learned and how - my past and my identity inform my present product as do the lessons learned in that context. But the motion must always be forward.

(via here and here)

Life Lessons: Learning the hard way

See, as a kid I was always being told

Oh, you just have to learn the hard way, don't you? Hard headed chile!

And I think it's time I remember that. I really learn the hard way best.

Read more for learning the hard way.