Two Mirrors Facing Each Other

Lawrence Shainberg says, “The only durable freedom from pain lies in its absolute acceptance” [“Two Mirrors Facing Each Other,” Dog-Eared Page, August 2018]. This quotation is now written in my journal, on a sticky note on my bathroom mirror, and on a card next to a photograph of my mother, whose death last year I have definitely not accepted. I’m grateful to Shainberg for this important piece of wisdom.

Perhaps the worst part of pain is our fight against it: “I don’t want to have these aches and pains! I don’t want to deal with my past mistakes! I don’t want to live the rest of my life without my mother!”

Maybe instead we need to look at pain as a condition of our existence.