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
|
2,648 people |
| 2. |
Learn to fly
|
2,145 people |
| 3. |
create something beautiful
|
506 people |
| 4. |
read all of shakespeare
1 entry |
99 people |
| 5. |
become a magazine editor
2 cheers |
162 people |
| 6. |
go abroad
2 cheers |
167 people |
| 7. |
drink more water
1 cheer |
18,984 people |
| 8. |
find love
2 entries |
1,947 people |
| 9. |
love my body
4 cheers |
1,095 people |
| 10. |
live passionately
1 entry . 2 cheers |
5,600 people |
| 11. |
make a wall-sized painting
3 cheers |
2 people |
| 12. |
volunteer at an animal shelter
2 cheers |
523 people |
| 13. |
make a paper crane
1 cheer |
9 people |
| 14. |
get a cat
2 cheers |
869 people |
| 15. |
list 43 things I like about myself
1 cheer |
127 people |
| 16. |
run a marathon
2 cheers |
10,454 people |
| 17. |
dance all night and then dance some more
2 cheers |
107 people |
| 18. |
learn another language
4 cheers |
3,735 people |
| 19. |
challenge myself more
2 cheers |
42 people |
| 20. |
write a novel
1 entry . 1 cheer |
9,683 people |
| 21. |
act
|
1,154 people |
| 22. |
meet stephen colbert
|
44 people |
| 23. |
see my name in lights
|
30 people |
| 24. |
collect shells on the beach
|
2 people |
| 25. |
live in the city
|
140 people |
| 26. |
do 43 things and then some
|
2 people |
| 27. |
win the lottery
|
3,781 people |
| 28. |
write a play
|
597 people |
| 29. |
embrace adventure
|
1 person |
| 30. |
stretch every day
|
543 people |
| 31. |
make new resolutions every day
|
1 person |
| 32. |
Finish what I start
|
3,844 people |
| 33. |
go on a road trip with no predetermined destination
|
18,610 people |
| 34. |
Start a company that changes the world.
|
43 people |
| 35. |
Read "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy"
|
536 people |
| 36. |
change someone's life
|
1,320 people |
| 37. |
start flossing
1 cheer |
25 people |
| 38. |
grow a garden
1 cheer |
783 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.