Past and future Quote by Sylvia Plath
““Reality is what I make it. That is what I have said I believed. Then I look at the hell I am wallowing in, nerves paralyzed, action nullified - fear, envy, hate: all the corrosive emotions of insecurity biting away at my sensitive guts. Time, experience: the colossal wave, sweeping tidal over me, drowning, drowning. How can I ever find that permanence, that continuity with past and future, that communication with other human beings that I crave? Can I ever honestly accept an artificial imposed solution? How can I justify, how can I rationalize the rest of my life away?””
About This Quote
Source Poem: “The Colossal Wave,” unpublished manuscript, 1962
She grapples with existential insecurity, fearing emotional corrosion, and seeks lasting connection and meaning amidst turmoil.
In simple terms: Struggles with insecurity and seeks lasting meaning.
Key Takeaway
Seek connection, confront insecurity.
Themes
existential
emotional
search for meaning
Mood
melancholic
hopeful
Type
poetic
philosophical
When to use this quote
- therapy
- creative writing
- mindfulness
- community building
Key Concepts
insecurity
artificial solutions
continuity
Questions to Reflect On
- What authentic connections can you foster?
- How do you confront corrosive emotions?
A Different Perspective
Artificial solutions may not address deep emotional needs.
![“What actually happened was something absurdly simple and unspectacular: I stopped thinking. [...] Reason and imagination and all mental chatter died down. For once, words really failed me. Past and future dropped away. I forgot who and what I was, my name, manhood, animalhood, all that could be…” quote by Douglas Harding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/3cb/douglas-harding-37614_blue-sky_what-actually-happened-was-something-abs_102127.jpg)
