Anais Nin On Reading
Our spirits are unveiled through the nourishing content that feeds our souls. There’s no such thing as a bad artist, only an artist that isn’t currently relevant. The artist’s purpose is to delve into the unconscious and illuminate our collective fears, doubts, and anxieties. The artist reveals the universality in our suffering, contradicting our belief in the uniqueness and Christ-like nature of our pain. We provide the world with the faith required to overcome ourselves.
Books offer a space of vulnerability to connect with spiritual mentors, and this knowledge keeps us alive. It’s through knowledge and action that we become followers of a divine path. When we read about someone who found a way to be honest, it bolsters our faith in our inner world. Writing and reading taught me that everything happening within me was significant. Anaïs understood the importance of supporting, loving, and encouraging authors as they undertake the patient internal journey required of every craftsman. Through books, we discover solace, strength, and the determination to persist in our journey of self-becoming.
“There is no single cosmic meaning for all; each of us gives meaning to our life — a unique meaning, an individual plot, like a personal novel, a book for each individual. You live in this sheltered, delicate world, thinking you’re truly living. Then you read a book… or you embark on a journey… and you realize you’re not truly living, you’re hibernating.”
The signs of hibernation are easily recognizable: first, restlessness. The second symptom (when hibernation becomes perilous and could lead to death): absence of pleasure. That’s it. It may seem like a harmless ailment. Monotony, boredom, death. Countless people live like this (or die like this) without recognizing it. Then, a jolt of awakening occurs — a person, a book, a song — and it rouses them, saving them from death. Some never awaken.
On days when we forget our depth, when we neglect our beauty and idly let life flow by, it’s those days that demand our faith. Yet, spontaneously, a whirlwind stirs in the water, a bear mistakes us for a fish and swipes at our stream, a hunter mistakes us for a bear and shoots at our water. The universe understands our yearning to live, and lying in this stream holds us back from joining our brethren.
Seeking solace in books isn’t an escape like video games, drugs, or embracing thoughts of death, but rather a spiritual readiness for the pain that accompanies transformation. We must resist the urge to revert to our former selves and take responsibility for the unfamiliarity of the present. Through books, we learn to acknowledge our numerous mistakes and free ourselves from the entanglement of suffering and destitution by leading a righteous life. Anaïs speaks of the transformative power of books, expressing:
“I am the most exhausted woman in the world. Life demands an effort I cannot muster. Please hand me that weighty book. I need something heavy like that on my head. I must keep my feet under the pillows always, so I remain grounded on earth. Otherwise, I feel myself slipping away, vanishing at an incredible pace, due to my weightlessness. I am aware that I am deceased. The moment I utter a phrase, my sincerity perishes, becoming a lie that chills me with its coldness.
Don’t say anything, as I perceive that you comprehend me, and I dread your understanding. I fear finding another akin to me, yet I yearn to encounter one! I am so utterly alone, yet I’m also terrified that my isolation will be shattered, and I will no longer reign as the head of my universe.
Those who live deeply have no fear of death. Our destiny is our true character, and that character can be reshaped. Knowing we’re accountable for our actions and attitudes needn’t be disheartening; it also signifies we possess the freedom to change this destiny. We aren’t bound by the past, which has shaped our emotions, racial heritage, upbringing. All of this can be altered if we possess the courage to examine how it shaped us. We can transform the chemistry, provided we dare to analyze the elements.
We aren’t designed for a life of stress, unhappiness, and the suffocating sensation of being ensnared by our circumstances. There must exist a realm where we live through our profound selves, where happiness is natural — not eternal, but more abundant than sadness and frustration. We’re duty-bound to strive for our growth, to evolve and encounter a life different from this one. Anaïs reminds us of the imperative to treat our lives like an art project, proclaiming:
“We’re akin to sculptors, ceaselessly molding others into the image we yearn for, need, love, or desire — often in opposition to reality, against their benefit, and invariably, in the end, leading to disappointment because it doesn’t align with them. Life is a progression of becoming, an amalgamation of stages we must traverse. People falter when they aim to elect a stage and remain stagnant within it. This is a form of demise. Each interaction with a human being is so infrequent, so precious; it should be preserved. I don’t aspire to become conventional, average, typical. My desire is to amass strength, the courage to fully live out my life, to relish more, to experience more.”
Anaïs Nin speaks with fervor and urgency on the themes closest to her heart: relationships, creativity, the struggle for wholeness, unveiling womanhood, the artist as a magician, women reshaping the world, transitioning from dream to reality, and living our lives to the utmost extent. Continue your reading with Anaïs Nin On Reading.
