There is a great quote by Eve Ensler in her interview in the magazine section of today’s
New York Times. When asked if she ever yearns for security now that she is 56 her answer is “Security isn’t what I hunger for. I hunger for change. I hunger for connection. I hunger for good sex.”
While the response followed a previous question concerning her marital status, it occurred to me that the search for security is also what stops so many from reinventing where they are. “Security”, if there really is such a thing is what ties people not just to relationships that are not good matches, but to jobs. The idea of security is an elusive search. Yet we think it is something we need to have. And once we get to what we think security is, we hold on desperately, afraid it might slip through our fingers. In that holding on, we stagnate. We fail to grow. And too often the grip makes our hands hurt so much that it breaks whatever we thought was our security.
But if like Eve Ensler, your response is to hunger for change, connection and of course, good sex, you stay in the flow. You grow, you open, you live joyously. And in a bizarre twist, you are given much more than the illusion of security could ever give.
I find that in some areas of my life, I cling to my security. In other areas, I’m forever reaching out for that change, that elusive something. I’m like an amoeba with a part of me stuck to the ground and another part reaching for the air.
I like it.
Hi Jen,
Thanks for reading. I like the picture in my head of your amoeba!
I love it – the concept of ‘security’ is an illusion and the opposite of staying in the flow. No wonder security feels so stifling. Keep up the words Joanne – you are so on to something!