Emily Esfahani Smith | Life-Built Poems

lighted paper lanterns floating above a crowd in the night sky

FOLLOW THE GOD-THREAD (Shaping Dilemma)

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Here’s the most pretzel-brain-making question there ever was in the history of human thought: “Life is ___________” (fill in the blank). That’s the deceptively innocuous-looking problem that, given even just a little bit of space and time, can toss you smack-dab onto the back of the Chaos-Beast that takes you on a ride straight down the most convoluted and paradoxical rabbit hole a thinking being will ever encounter. Argh! I’ll tell you right now going in: That question actually has…

UBUNTU (An Un-Seeing Exercise)

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The stress of coping with the effects of the global pandemic in 2020 and beyond – social distancing, forced quarantines, and travel restrictions as well as the awkward and unsettling changes in day-to-day living and the resulting changes in our accustomed lifestyles — led many of us to re-examine what makes our own lives meaningful. I suppose it should not come as a surprise that making connections with other people and working on keeping these connections going and growing will…

BOUNCING BACK

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Resilience researchers ask why some people handle adversity better than others and go on to lead normal lives despite negative life experiences while others get de-railed by them. After years of study, they pretty much figured out that the old guys had the right of it: You need to stay positive. You need to have a good crew at your back.

WORK AND MEANING

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“Meaningful Work” is the new Grail, it seems. Every time you turn around there’s somebody or other admonishing and exhorting you to get out there and “find” the work that gives meaning to your life. It’s the key to happiness, joy and self-fulfillment, they say.