Long ago, I was wounded. I lived
to revenge myself
against my father, not
for what he was—
for what I was: from the beginning of time,
in childhood, I thought
that pain meant
I was not loved.
It meant I loved.
I love this poem.
| 1. |
learn photography
|
2,541 people |
| 2. |
act
|
1,130 people |
| 3. |
meet stephen colbert
|
42 people |
| 4. |
see my name in lights
|
30 people |
| 5. |
collect shells on the beach
|
2 people |
| 6. |
live in the city
|
136 people |
| 7. |
do 43 things and then some
|
2 people |
| 8. |
win the lottery
|
3,669 people |
| 9. |
write a play
|
586 people |
| 10. |
embrace adventure
|
1 person |
| 11. |
stretch every day
|
540 people |
| 12. |
make new resolutions every day
|
1 person |
| 13. |
Finish what I start
|
3,721 people |
| 14. |
go on a road trip with no predetermined destination
|
18,103 people |
| 15. |
Start a company that changes the world.
|
44 people |
| 16. |
Read "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy"
|
536 people |
| 17. |
change someone's life
|
1,273 people |
| 18. |
start flossing
1 cheer |
24 people |
| 19. |
write a novel
1 entry . 1 cheer |
9,294 people |
| 20. |
challenge myself more
2 cheers |
41 people |
| 21. |
Learn to fly
|
2,082 people |
| 22. |
create something beautiful
|
501 people |
| 23. |
read all of shakespeare
1 entry |
94 people |
| 24. |
become a magazine editor
2 cheers |
161 people |
| 25. |
go abroad
2 cheers |
160 people |
| 26. |
drink more water
1 cheer |
18,383 people |
| 27. |
find love
2 entries |
1,863 people |
| 28. |
love my body
4 cheers |
1,055 people |
| 29. |
live passionately
1 entry . 2 cheers |
5,543 people |
| 30. |
make a wall-sized painting
3 cheers |
2 people |
| 31. |
volunteer at an animal shelter
2 cheers |
487 people |
| 32. |
make a paper crane
1 cheer |
8 people |
| 33. |
get a cat
2 cheers |
841 people |
| 34. |
list 43 things I like about myself
1 cheer |
125 people |
| 35. |
run a marathon
2 cheers |
9,896 people |
| 36. |
dance all night and then dance some more
2 cheers |
108 people |
| 37. |
learn another language
4 cheers |
3,577 people |
| 38. |
grow a garden
1 cheer |
764 people |
Long ago, I was wounded. I lived
to revenge myself
against my father, not
for what he was—
for what I was: from the beginning of time,
in childhood, I thought
that pain meant
I was not loved.
It meant I loved.
I love this poem.
Each of us, I firmly believe, is propelled through life by a restless, inexhaustible need for affection. Why else do we trudge off to work every morning, or withhold farts, or decorate our bodies with precious gems, or attend church, or smile at strangers, or pluck out body hair, or send valentines, or glance into mirrors, or forgive, or try to forgive, or gnash our teeth at betrayal, or pray, or promise, or any of a trillion large and small behaviors that constitute the totality of the human trial on this planet?
All for love.
All to be loved.