YLIAN'S MESSED UP LIFE
#101: tuesdays with Morrie
I finally got a hold on this book today after i finished reading 'The five people you meet in heaven' since i cant remember when.
The story is about an old man Morrie who know he is dying, but determined not to fear death. Being a sociology professor, he read extensively books on sociology, psychology, philosophy, religion. He turned his impending death into a form of research for people to study and all the time till before he died, he keep an open mind and continue to dish out bite-sized philosophies about living with death's shadow. His old friend, a student of his, documented his story by recording the conversations they had for 12 tuesdays.
Personally, i feel that this is a really great and meaningful book. I started reading it just today on the mrt home a couple of hours ago and i almost cried. When i was reading page 4. Seriously no kidding. Following is an extract of what i was reading that made my tears welled up:
"Mitch, you are one of the good ones," he says, admiring the briefcase. Then he hugs me. I feel his thin arms around my back. I am taller than he is, and when he holds me, I feel awkward, older, as if I were the parent and he were the child.
He asks if I will stay in touch, and without hesitation I say, "Of course."
When he steps back, I see that he is crying.
I didnt cried, but damn nearly did. However as I continue reading, it seems that I should have cried after all. Continuing with the story, as Morrie's condition deteriorated, and he shares that what he is doing now is to detach himself from the experience. In simple context, it is to let yourself be washed with the emotion. It won't hurt but will only help. Once you let it inside, then you can say that you have your moment with the emotion and now you are going to put it aside to experience the other emotions in the world. Another extract on page 105.
I thought about how often this was needed in everyday life. How we feel lonely, sometimes to the point of tears, but we don't let those tears come because we are not supposed to cry. Or how we feel a surge of love for a partner but we don't say anything because we are frozen with the fear of what those words might do to the relationship.
Maybe I'll cry later, when I continue to read the book. I'm reading it much slower than compared to reading other books. A slow pace of reading does wonders, this time.
How can you be prepared to die?
"Do what the Buddhists do. Every day, have a little bird on your shoulder that asks, 'Is today the day? Am i ready? Am I doing all I need to do? Am I being the person i want to be?' "
He turned his head to his shoulder as if the bird was there now.
"Is today the day i die?" he said.
"Have i told you about the tension opposites?' he says.
The tension of opposites?
"Life is a series of pulls back and forth. You want to do one thing, but you are bound to do something else. Something hurts you, yet you know it shouldn't. You take certain things for granted, even when you know you should never take anything for granted.
"A tension of opposites, like a pull on a rubber band. And most of us live somewhere in the middle."
All written above is based on Mitch Albom's tuesdays with Morrie. Copyrighted 1996, Published 2006.
What a great day for my 2nd day of the year. I am so going to reread this book.
Scratched,
Lianmei