--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: To distance ourselves from our experience…" description: "\"To distance ourselves from our experience makes our feelings a liability, while staying in conversation with our experience makes our feelings a resour..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/628/mark-nepo-1670_communication_to-distance-ourselves-from-our-experienc_650548.png" --- # To distance ourselves from our experience makes our… ![“To distance ourselves from our experience makes our feelings a liability, while staying in conversation with our experience makes our feelings a resource.” quote by Mark Nepo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/628/mark-nepo-1670_communication_to-distance-ourselves-from-our-experienc_650548.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/628/mark-nepo-1670_communication_to-distance-ourselves-from-our-experienc_650548.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/628/mark-nepo-1670_communication_to-distance-ourselves-from-our-experienc_650548.png) > “To distance ourselves from our experience makes our feelings a liability, while staying in conversation with our experience makes our feelings a resource.” [Mark Nepo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-nepo/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Detaching from personal experience turns emotions into burdens; engaging with them turns emotions into useful tools. **In simple terms:** Ignoring feelings makes them harmful; confronting them makes them helpful. Key Takeaway Engage with your feelings as resources. Themes self-awareness emotional intelligence mindfulness Mood reflective calm Type advice inspirational When to use this quote - therapy sessions - personal coaching - conflict resolution - creative work - stress management Key Concepts psychology resourcefulness presence Questions to Reflect On - How can you turn a painful feeling into a guide? - What practices help keep you in conversation with your experience? A Different Perspective If you suppress feelings, you may miss valuable insights. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Communication](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/communication/) [Conversation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conversation/) [Feelings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feelings/) ## Related quotes > [“True conversation is its own experience, and experience, not words, is the thing that brings people closer.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doug-cooper/true-conversation-is-its-own-experience-and-experience-not-words-is/) [Doug Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doug-cooper/) > [Some says my eyes is like a piercing arrow, That when it strikes you, makes your feelings deathblow, They said I am good and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jehan-fostanes-nayga/some-says-my-eyes-is-like-a-piercing-arrow-that-when-it-strikes-you/) [Jehan Fostanes Nayga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jehan-fostanes-nayga/) > [Guilt always makes the other feelings worse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eileen-wilks/guilt-always-makes-the-other-feelings-worse/) [Eileen Wilks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eileen-wilks/) > [Listening to music is like the best thing in the world, but writing those songs makes my feelings come out](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shar-rae/listening-to-music-is-like-the-best-thing-in-the-world-but-writing/) [Shar-rae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shar-rae/) > [The world keeps moving, the world keeps turning, and people get older, and young people become older and more important and cooler and interesting,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-hamm/the-world-keeps-moving-the-world-keeps-turning-and-people-get-older/) [Jon Hamm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-hamm/) > [“For every liability you have, you are somebody else’s asset. 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But we are running out of environment-that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vijay-v-vaitheeswaran/civilization-is-in-no-immediate-danger-of-running-out-of-energy-or/) Vijay V. Vaitheeswaran > [If you're a poor worker - this is for new workers coming into the workplace - your benefits will increase at the current rate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/if-you-re-a-poor-worker-this-is-for-new-workers-coming-into-the/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) > [Cops must be unleashed, and allowed to administer instant punishment, subject of course to liability when they are in error.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-rothbard/cops-must-be-unleashed-and-allowed-to-administer-instant-punishment/) [Murray Rothbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-rothbard/) > [Corporations are created by the people, acting through their governments. We grant them corporate charters that confer certain legal rights and privileges, like the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-mcgovern/corporations-are-created-by-the-people-acting-through-their/) [Jim McGovern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-mcgovern/) ## More by Mark Nepo > [“Often we find it easier to think our way around things rather than to feel our way through them:”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-nepo/often-we-find-it-easier-to-think-our-way-around-things-rather-than-to/) [Mark Nepo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-nepo/) > [When we don't get what we want, there's a legitimate grieving, and then the spiritual journey truly begins, because not getting what we want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-nepo/when-we-don-t-get-what-we-want-there-s-a-legitimate-grieving-and-then/) [Mark Nepo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-nepo/) > [Each soul on earth is complete unto itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-nepo/each-soul-on-earth-is-complete-unto-itself/) [Mark Nepo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-nepo/) > [“a living symbol that can call into my moment of sadness a deeper sense of plenitude and generosity that is always there, but not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-nepo/a-living-symbol-that-can-call-into-my-moment-of-sadness-a-deeper/) [Mark Nepo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-nepo/) > [“COMING OUT While there is much to do we are not here to do.   Under the want to problem-solve is the need to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-nepo/coming-out-while-there-is-much-to-do-we-are-not-here-to-do-under-the/) [Mark Nepo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-nepo/) > [The greatest thing we can do to be closer to our own lives and to the freshness of living is to open up again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-nepo/the-greatest-thing-we-can-do-to-be-closer-to-our-own-lives-and-to-the/) [Mark Nepo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-nepo/) > [For though we stubbornly cling, believing in our moment of hunger that there is no other possibility of love, we only have to let…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-nepo/for-though-we-stubbornly-cling-believing-in-our-moment-of-hunger-that/) [Mark Nepo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-nepo/) > [Perhaps the hardest thing I've learned, and still struggle with, is that I don't have to be finished in order to be whole.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-nepo/perhaps-the-hardest-thing-i-ve-learned-and-still-struggle-with-is/) [Mark Nepo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-nepo/) > [A successful creative expression is one in which the person who has expressed it was transformed for having encountered it](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-nepo/a-successful-creative-expression-is-one-in-which-the-person-who-has/) [Mark Nepo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-nepo/) > [No amount of thinking can stop thinking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-nepo/no-amount-of-thinking-can-stop-thinking/) [Mark Nepo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-nepo/) > [“Yet beneath all the talk of tragedy and grace, I have come to believe that we are destined to be opened by the living…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-nepo/yet-beneath-all-the-talk-of-tragedy-and-grace-i-have-come-to-believe/) [Mark Nepo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-nepo/) > [The glassblower knows: while in the heat of beginning, any shape is possible. Once hardened, the only way to change is to break.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-nepo/the-glassblower-knows-while-in-the-heat-of-beginning-any-shape-is/) [Mark Nepo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-nepo/) > [We work so hard to get somewhere, to realize a dream, to arrive at some destination, that we often forget that though some satisfaction…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-nepo/we-work-so-hard-to-get-somewhere-to-realize-a-dream-to-arrive-at-some/) [Mark Nepo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-nepo/) > [Our job is not to expose the mystery but to participate in it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-nepo/our-job-is-not-to-expose-the-mystery-but-to-participate-in-it/) [Mark Nepo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-nepo/) > [Pursue the obstacle It will set you free](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-nepo/pursue-the-obstacle-it-will-set-you-free/) [Mark Nepo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-nepo/) [Explore all 217 Mark Nepo quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-nepo/) ## More Communication quotes > [Some people still believe you should just fall in line with what's going on - and that's scary. 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Smashing heads does not open minds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deborah-tannen/in-dialogue-there-is-opposition-yes-but-no-head-on-collision-smashing/) [Deborah Tannen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deborah-tannen/) > [A dialogue is very important. It is a form of communication in which question and answer continue till a question is left without an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jiddu-krishnamurti/a-dialogue-is-very-important-it-is-a-form-of-communication-in-which/) [Jiddu Krishnamurti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jiddu-krishnamurti/) > [I get afraid of the dark if I'm in a great deal of dark, and I have to move around inside of that fear...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-ferris/i-get-afraid-of-the-dark-if-i-m-in-a-great-deal-of-dark-and-i-have-to/) [Emil Ferris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-ferris/) > [I've been in a serious conversation with one of my children, and a fan has come up. 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No. You are not allowed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-eubank-sr/there-are-certain-things-you-must-not-say-in-spite-of-the-fact-that/) [Chris Eubank Sr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-eubank-sr/) [Browse all 21,506 Communication quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/communication/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "To distance ourselves from our experience makes our feelings a liability, while staying in conversation with our experience makes our feelings a resource.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mark Nepo" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-nepo/to-distance-ourselves-from-our-experience-makes-our-feelings-a/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Communication" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-nepo/to-distance-ourselves-from-our-experience-makes-our-feelings-a/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/628/mark-nepo-1670_communication_to-distance-ourselves-from-our-experienc_650548.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/628/mark-nepo-1670_communication_to-distance-ourselves-from-our-experienc_650548.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/628/mark-nepo-1670_communication_to-distance-ourselves-from-our-experienc_650548.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“To distance ourselves from our experience makes our feelings a liability, while staying in conversation with…” — Mark Nepo", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Mark Nepo", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-nepo/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "To distance ourselves from our experience...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-nepo/to-distance-ourselves-from-our-experience-makes-our-feelings-a/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-nepo/to-distance-ourselves-from-our-experience-makes-our-feelings-a/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```