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. |
make a wall-sized painting
3 cheers |
2 people |
| 2. |
learn photography
|
2,336 people |
| 3. |
dance all night and then dance some more
2 cheers |
110 people |
| 4. |
become a magazine editor
2 cheers |
159 people |
| 5. |
write a novel
1 entry . 1 cheer |
8,566 people |
| 6. |
run a marathon
2 cheers |
8,774 people |
| 7. |
go abroad
2 cheers |
150 people |
| 8. |
read all of shakespeare
1 entry |
84 people |
| 9. |
act
|
1,101 people |
| 10. |
learn another language
4 cheers |
3,245 people |
| 11. |
meet stephen colbert
|
42 people |
| 12. |
get a cat
2 cheers |
793 people |
| 13. |
see my name in lights
|
28 people |
| 14. |
collect shells on the beach
|
2 people |
| 15. |
grow a garden
1 cheer |
672 people |
| 16. |
find love
2 entries |
1,678 people |
| 17. |
drink more water
1 cheer |
16,790 people |
| 18. |
live in the city
|
119 people |
| 19. |
do 43 things and then some
|
2 people |
| 20. |
make a paper crane
1 cheer |
8 people |
| 21. |
live passionately
1 entry . 2 cheers |
5,284 people |
| 22. |
start flossing
1 cheer |
22 people |
| 23. |
challenge myself more
2 cheers |
37 people |
| 24. |
win the lottery
|
3,487 people |
| 25. |
love my body
4 cheers |
1,006 people |
| 26. |
write a play
|
549 people |
| 27. |
embrace adventure
|
1 person |
| 28. |
stretch every day
|
501 people |
| 29. |
make new resolutions every day
|
1 person |
| 30. |
Finish what I start
|
3,506 people |
| 31. |
go on a road trip with no predetermined destination
|
16,874 people |
| 32. |
Start a company that changes the world.
|
43 people |
| 33. |
Read "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy"
|
513 people |
| 34. |
list 43 things I like about myself
1 cheer |
123 people |
| 35. |
change someone's life
|
1,175 people |
| 36. |
volunteer at an animal shelter
2 cheers |
424 people |
| 37. |
Learn to fly
|
1,986 people |
| 38. |
create something beautiful
|
487 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.