--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I felt very still and empty, the way the…" description: "\"I felt very still and empty, the way the eye of a tornado must feel, moving dully along in the middle of the surrounding hullabaloo.\" — Sylvia Plath" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7ba/sylvia-plath-149_being-a-woman_i-felt-very-still-and-empty-the-way-the_1717952.jpg" --- # I felt very still and empty, the way the eye of a tornado… ![“I felt very still and empty, the way the eye of a tornado must feel, moving dully along in the middle of the surrounding hullabaloo.” quote by Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7ba/sylvia-plath-149_being-a-woman_i-felt-very-still-and-empty-the-way-the_1717952.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7ba/sylvia-plath-149_being-a-woman_i-felt-very-still-and-empty-the-way-the_1717952.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7ba/sylvia-plath-149_being-a-woman_i-felt-very-still-and-empty-the-way-the_1717952.jpg) > “I felt very still and empty, the way the eye of a tornado must feel, moving dully along in the middle of the surrounding hullabaloo.” [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. She describes feeling empty amid chaos, like a calm center in a storm. **In simple terms:** She feels empty amid surrounding chaos. Key Takeaway Find calm within turbulence. Themes emptiness chaos inner peace observation Mood reflective poetic Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - stressful situations - creative work - personal crisis Key Concepts existentialism mindfulness Questions to Reflect On - How do you stay present in chaos? - What practices bring inner calm? A Different Perspective Emptiness can be a sign of disengagement. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Being a woman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/being-a-woman/) [Chaos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chaos/) [Emptiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emptiness/) [Feminism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feminism/) [Numbness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/numbness/) [Tornadoes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tornadoes/) ## Related quotes > [“I guess I should have reacted the way most of the other girls were, but I couldn't get myself to react. 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If other people did, that's the way they looked…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-cage/i-never-looked-at-being-second-banana-to-anybody-i-never-felt-that/) [Christian Cage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-cage/) ## More by Sylvia Plath > [“It was a queer, sultry summer, the summer they electrocuted the Rosenbergs, and I didn't know what I was doing in New York.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/it-was-a-queer-sultry-summer-the-summer-they-electrocuted-the/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [I love life. But it is hard and I have so much, so very much to learn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-love-life-but-it-is-hard-and-i-have-so-much-so-very-much-to-learn/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [... These are my hands My knees. I may be skin and bone, Nevertheless, I am the same, identical woman. ... --Lady Lazarus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/these-are-my-hands-my-knees-i-may-be-skin-and-bone-nevertheless-i-am/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [Sure, I’m dramatic and sloppily semi-cynical and semi-sentimental. But, in leisure years I could grow and choose my way. 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Ordinarily, I would have been nervous about my dress and my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/the-city-had-faded-my-tan-though-i-looked-yellow-as-a-chinaman/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [Joy:show joy & enjoy: then others will be joyful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/joy-show-joy-enjoy-then-others-will-be-joyful/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [A million years of evolution, Eric said bitterly, and what are we? Animals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/a-million-years-of-evolution-eric-said-bitterly-and-what-are-we/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“I have stitched life into me like a rare organ --from "Three Women: A Poem for Three Voices", written 1962”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-have-stitched-life-into-me-like-a-rare-organ-from-three-women-a/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [It is so much safer not to feel, not to let the world touch me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/it-is-so-much-safer-not-to-feel-not-to-let-the-world-touch-me/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“Flute Notes from a Reedy Pond" Now coldness comes sifting down, layer after layer, To our bower at the lily root. Overhead the old…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/flute-notes-from-a-reedy-pond-now-coldness-comes-sifting-down-layer/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“The most saddening thing is to admit that I am not in love. I can only love (if that means self denial - or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/the-most-saddening-thing-is-to-admit-that-i-am-not-in-love-i-can-only/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) [Explore all 1,098 Sylvia Plath quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) ## More Being a woman quotes > [Forget the credit, they (male actors) take all the money as well. We don't get paid even one-third of what male actors get. 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