What is This Life, Anyway?

Alphonse Osbert

“This is the only poem
I can read
I am the only one
can write it
I didn’t kill myself
when things went wrong
I didn’t turn
to drugs or teaching
I tried to sleep
but when I couldn’t sleep
I learned to write
I learned to write
what might be read
on nights like this
by one like me.”

— Leonard Cohen, The Only Poem

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Sometimes when we attempt to listen to another person, we can’t hear them because we haven’t listened to ourselves first. Our own strong emotions and thoughts are so loud in our heart and in our head, crying out for our attention, that we can’t hear the other person. Before we listen to another, we need to spend time listening to ourselves.

— Thich Nhat Hanh

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The Moment

The moment when, after many years

of hard work and a long voyage

you stand in the centre of your room,