With a new awareness, both painful and humorous, I begin…
““With a new awareness, both painful and humorous, I begin to understand why the saints were rarely married women. I am convinced it has nothing inherently to do, as I once supposed, with chastity or children. It has to do primarily with distractions. The bearing, rearing, feeding and educating of children; the running of a house with its thousand details; human relationships with their myriad pulls--woman's normal occupations in general run counter to creative life, or contemplative life, or saintly life. The problem is not merely one of Woman and Career, Woman and the Home, Woman and Independence. It is more basically: how to remain whole in the midst of the distractions of life; how to remain balanced, no matter what centrifugal forces tend to pull one off center; how to remain strong, no matter what shocks come in at the periphery and tend to crack the hub of the wheel.””
About This Quote
This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.
Balancing creative pursuits with life's many responsibilities requires resilience and focus.
In simple terms: Life's distractions challenge personal wholeness.
Prioritize and protect creative space.
Themes
Mood
Type
When to use this quote
- parenting
- career
- spiritual practice
Key Concepts
Questions to Reflect On
- How do you maintain focus amid duties?
- What boundaries protect your creative life?
Ignoring distractions can erode purpose.