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I spoke with a wise person this evening before class about the topic of depression. Should one drive themselves through it, trying to get to the other side? Meds? Therapy? Or how about staying still and listening to the depression and actually feeling and listening to it? The discussion in class and with the wise person reminding me of a book that was collecting dust on my bookshelf.

"Sometimes, into the lives of women who seem to be successfully fulfilling the standards of the surrounding society, depression may come as a settling embrace. It may come to a woman who is terrified that there will be nothing there, inside, if she allows herself time to rest, to seperate from her extraverted hyperactivity in the outer world. [...] Into such a life, depression comes as a gift, bringing the chance to strike root in a deeper ground inside oneself. Depression comes as a gift forcing one to listen to the voice of the Self within." (p.65)   

 (Duerk, Judith. Circle of Stones: Women's Journey to Herself. Inner Ocean Publishing, 1989.)

I wonder what would happen if we as a society actually stopped. Just stopped and allowed ourselves to feel, to be. What could we learn?