stormdog: (floyd)
MeghanIsMe ([personal profile] stormdog) wrote2013-06-05 04:23 pm

(no subject)

I've seen this quote by Anais Nin in a few places.

"And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud
was more painful than the risk it took to blossom."

For a long time, it's felt empowering to me. It presents hope that a transformation can occur for people who are in a bad place. Lately though, I've realized that the phrasing seems to remove agency on the part of the person being transformed. If the transformation only comes at a point when it is more painful not to change, then there isn't really a choice being made; it becomes an inevitable, perhaps even somewhat unwilling, change.

How do you feel about this quote? Does it feel to you like it encourages and praises people who make a choice to move into something new and scary, or does it suggest that that such change can be inevitable and not really a matter of choice after all?