In the sense that all generations pass, time is, if not a healer of all wounds, an eraser for the dead. Within the sphere of the living, however, time is both chancy healer and eraser. Pain and suffering do not easily submit to time’s doctoring or erasing.
For the living, pain and suffering present an Either/Or for well being, making us waver between action and inaction: Either: “I should do something about this”; Or: “I’ll tolerate it because it will probably go away.” With time, pain from a bump diminishes as swelling decreases; learning and reason offer ice to hasten healing.
Emotional suffering rarely seems as susceptible to healing or erasing as physical pain. Instead of a clear Either/Or between action and inaction, emotional distress elicits: “I should act, but I’ll tolerate IT as long as I can.” Often, any attempt to merge action and inaction prolongs the suffering. Time takes, well, what can one say? Time’s doctoring takes time and has no predictable outcome, no guarantee of healing or erasing other than death. Action, I advise, is better than inaction.
There’s a common use of place as a metaphor for emotional and physical pain. “I’m in a ‘bad place’ right now.” It’s always a matter of changing place, isn’t it? The metaphor is a product of our reality. We are shaped by place before we have the experience and learning to shape place. Place’s control is deeply rooted: Live in a desert, expect dryness; live in the rainforest, expect moisture; in the city, expect traffic. It’s only later that we learn to control environments like these through irrigation, indoor dehumidifiers, and traffic lights. All controls on place require expenditures of some kind. Place imposes an economy of action.
Likewise, the “place of pain and suffering” also imposes an economy. One can choose to avoid active doctoring, letting time do its slow and unpredictable work; or one can choose to alter the environment by some kind of expenditure. Without action, place controls us; ‘dryness,’ ‘humidity,’ and ‘traffic’ continue to shape lives.
The place of pain—physical and emotional—can only be altered by experience and reason that lead to action. Ice does decrease swelling and hasten time’s healing.
“I should act” is not a social ‘should’ in matters of emotional pain; it is not a response dictated by cultural mores or patterns. It is rather a dictum of survival and well being in a harsh emotional environment. Rather than wait for Dr. Time to heal or erase, change the place of pain: Irrigate, dehumidify, or install traffic lights. Or, simply move.
For the living, pain and suffering present an Either/Or for well being, making us waver between action and inaction: Either: “I should do something about this”; Or: “I’ll tolerate it because it will probably go away.” With time, pain from a bump diminishes as swelling decreases; learning and reason offer ice to hasten healing.
Emotional suffering rarely seems as susceptible to healing or erasing as physical pain. Instead of a clear Either/Or between action and inaction, emotional distress elicits: “I should act, but I’ll tolerate IT as long as I can.” Often, any attempt to merge action and inaction prolongs the suffering. Time takes, well, what can one say? Time’s doctoring takes time and has no predictable outcome, no guarantee of healing or erasing other than death. Action, I advise, is better than inaction.
There’s a common use of place as a metaphor for emotional and physical pain. “I’m in a ‘bad place’ right now.” It’s always a matter of changing place, isn’t it? The metaphor is a product of our reality. We are shaped by place before we have the experience and learning to shape place. Place’s control is deeply rooted: Live in a desert, expect dryness; live in the rainforest, expect moisture; in the city, expect traffic. It’s only later that we learn to control environments like these through irrigation, indoor dehumidifiers, and traffic lights. All controls on place require expenditures of some kind. Place imposes an economy of action.
Likewise, the “place of pain and suffering” also imposes an economy. One can choose to avoid active doctoring, letting time do its slow and unpredictable work; or one can choose to alter the environment by some kind of expenditure. Without action, place controls us; ‘dryness,’ ‘humidity,’ and ‘traffic’ continue to shape lives.
The place of pain—physical and emotional—can only be altered by experience and reason that lead to action. Ice does decrease swelling and hasten time’s healing.
“I should act” is not a social ‘should’ in matters of emotional pain; it is not a response dictated by cultural mores or patterns. It is rather a dictum of survival and well being in a harsh emotional environment. Rather than wait for Dr. Time to heal or erase, change the place of pain: Irrigate, dehumidify, or install traffic lights. Or, simply move.
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