It will be sunny one day

April 10, 2006

Dear Crystal,

I'm so sorry to hear that life is getting you down at the moment. Goodness knows, it can be so tough when nothing seems to fit and little seems to be fulfilling. I'm not sure there's any specific advice I can give that will help bring life back its savor. Although they mean well, it's sometimes quite galling to be reminded how much people love you when you don't love yourself that much.

I've found that it's of some help to think of one's moods and feelings about the world as being similar to the weather:

Here are some obvious things about the weather:

It's real.
You can't change it by wishing it away.
If it's dark and rainy it really is dark and rainy and you can't alter it.
It might be dark and rainy for two weeks in a row.

BUT

It will be sunny one day.
It isn't under one's control as to when the sun comes out, but come out it will.
One day.

It really is the same with one's moods, I think. The wrong approach is to believe that they are illusions. They are real. Depression, anxiety, listlessness - these are as real as the weather - AND EQUALLY NOT UNDER ONE'S CONTROL. Not one's fault.

BUT

They will pass: they really will.

In the same way that one has to accept the weather, so one has to accept how one feels about life sometimes. "Today's a crap day," is a perfectly realistic approach. It's all about finding a kind of mental umbrella. "Hey-ho, it's raining inside: it isn't my fault and there's nothing I can to about it, but sit it out. But the sun may well come out tomorrow and when it does, I shall take full advantage."

I don't know if any of that is of any use: it may not seem it, and if so, I'm sorry. I just thought I'd drop you a line to wish you well in your search to find a little more pleasure and purpose in life.

Very best wishes,
Stephen Fry.
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Mi sembra succeda che la gente pensi che io sia sempre felice.
Non è così.
Ho anzi imparato che spesso le persone più sorridenti, più buffe, più divertenti, sono proprio quelle che si sentono, ogni tanto, davvero tristi.
La lettera qui sopra è stata scritta da un comico.
Un po' di tempo fa, mi atteggiavo da cinico, disilluso, ero distruttivo verso qualsiasi cosa, e ammetto che era divertente. Forse con le ragazze faceva pure più scena.
Ma non è poi così entusiasmante. Alla lunga, succede che prima diventi strano, poi diventi triste, e alla fine ti ritrovi vecchio dentro.
Si tratta di scegliere. Scegliere tra l'amore e i suoi opposti, odio o indifferenza.
Non intendo "amore" solo in senso carnale, neanche solo in senso platonico... mi riferisco alla passione, la passione che si ha per la vita, nel fare le cose, nel veder nascere e crescere qualcosa di creato con le proprie forze.
A volte basta davvero solo scegliere di comportarsi in un certo modo, con passione.
Io, per esempio, quando sono triste, o depresso - e appunto... capita! - penso semplicemente questo: a loro, non gliela darò mai vinta.
Ne vale la pena.
E qualche volta, è sufficiente. :-)