This discussion dives into the relationship between sorrow and joy, illustrating how embracing sorrow can renew our spirit. It also examines hope and despair, showing how true hope often emerges from confronting our darkest moments. An ancient poem reveals insights into societal chaos and the erosion of values, suggesting that personal authenticity can guide us through turmoil. The concept of the Ba-soul is explored as a universal guide, fostering resilience and meaning in our fragmented world.
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insights INSIGHT
Sorrow and Joy Are Paired
Emotions such as sorrow and joy naturally travel in pairs, with sorrow deepening the soul and joy lifting spirit after grief.
Denying grief diminishes our ability to experience true joy, revealing their essential interconnection.
insights INSIGHT
Hope Arises From Despair
Despair isn't an end but a deep ground from which greater hope and renewal can emerge.
True hope involves a 'vertical imagination' reconnecting heaven and earth beyond historical progress expectations.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Ancient Scribe’s Despair and Soul Response
An ancient Egyptian scribe living 4,500 years ago lamented widespread chaos and moral decay, reflecting despair over his culture's collapse.
At the brink of death, his soul answered, encouraging authentic living despite societal collapse and personal pain.
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This episode begins with the old idea that emotions travel in pairs. Sorrow tends to travel with joy, so that if we allow sorrow to penetrate us, it will pull us to a deep level of our soul where joy can provide a renewal of spirit that lifts us back up. On the other hand, when we deny the grief and sorrows that enter our lives, we wind up losing our capacity for joy. Another natural pairing of emotions occurs with hope and despair. While despair can mean to “lose all hope,” it is not simply a blind alley or a dead end. Rather, the dark territory of despair becomes the place from which a deeper sense of hope can arise.
In response to the dark times in which we live, Michael Meade revives one of the oldest stories ever recorded. On the tattered remains of a papyrus scroll from over four thousand years ago, an unnamed poet describes a deeply unsettled country where people suffer from increasing chaos and an erosion of ethical values. He reports how wide scale injustice and the excessive greed of powerful people has induced the spread of mindless violence and brought him to the depths of despair. In his darkest hour his soul speaks and advises him to turn to the original potentials of his life and live in authentic ways despite and because of the troubles that have befallen everyone.
In times of darkness and loss, it becomes more important to know that there is a deeper sense of hope that can be found by experiencing some of the depths of despair. This hope found after hopelessness involves inspiration and the kind of vertical imagination that can reclaim the deepest values of humanity and envision meaningful ways to, not simply survive, but to revive the meaning and purpose of our lives. Thank you for listening to and supporting Living Myth. You can hear Michael Meade live by joining him for two free online events: “Arts and Practices: Antidotes to Overwhelm, Sources of Resiliency” on Thursday, November 21 and “Living Authentically in Uncertain Times” on Thursday, December 5. Register and learn more at mosaicvoices.org/events. You can further support this podcast by becoming a member of Living Myth Premium. Members receive bonus episodes each month, access to the full archives of over 700 episodes and a 30% discount on all events, courses and book and audio titles. Learn more and join this community of listeners at patreon.com/livingmyth. If you enjoy this podcast, we appreciate you leaving a review wherever you listen and sharing it with your friends. On behalf of Michael Meade and the whole Mosaic staff, we wish you well and thank you for your support of our work.
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