“It is a sign of great inner insecurity to be hostile to the unfamiliar.” – Anais Nin
Have you felt yourself seizing up when presented with something new? A reaction that pushes you to retreat within yourself rather than explore that novelty?
Anais Nin reminds us in her writing that it is very possible to silence such insecurities by opening oneself to unfamiliar terrain.
“When we totally accept a pattern not made by us, not truly our own, we wither and die. People’s conventional structure is often a façade. Under the most rigid conventionality there is often an individual, a human being with original thoughts or inventive fantasy, which he does not dare expose for fear of ridicule, and this is what the writer and artist are willing to do for us. They are guides and map makers to greater sincerity. They are useful, in fact indispensable, to the community. They keep before our eyes the variations which make human beings so interesting.”
Might just be your time to become a cartographer.
Especially it if you plan to map it out for others to navigate on their own one day.
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These are the perfect thoughts for me right now as I have just set off on a trip! In my travels and my reactions – being tense etc – I’ve really noticed the difference between being in a country where I speak the language and where I don’t. Anais is so wise. Which book are the quotes from?
Oh wonderful – where to? And this is from her 5th Journal:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Diary-Anais-Nin-Vol/dp/0156260301/
Great, thanks. I am in New York at the moment, just about to head west, and the finally Canada…
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Following another’s footsteps becomes incredibly uncomfortable-different strides with different size feet, with different everything!
So well put Casandralee!
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