The longing for freedom from conflict, suffering and deprivation is an eternal human dream of great emotional power. It is the dream of total happiness, embodied in almost all cultures as the myth of Paradise. The author, a Jungian analyst, begins with a discussion of the psychological connection between the idea of Paradise and the crucially decisive quality of the Mother-infant relationship in determining a child's development.
The longing for freedom from conflict, suffering and deprivation is an eternal human dream of great emotional power. It is the dream of total happiness, embodied in almost all cultures as the myth of Paradise. The author, a Jungian analyst, begins with a discussion of the psychological connection between the idea of Paradise and the crucially decisive quality of the Mother-infant relationship in determining a child's development.
The longing for freedom from conflict, suffering and deprivation is an eternal human dream of great emotional power. It is the dream of total happiness, embodied in almost all cultures as the myth of Paradise. The author, a Jungian analyst, begins with a discussion of the psychological connection between the idea of Paradise and the crucially decisive quality of the Mother-infant relationship in determining a child's development.
With a confident grin on his face, the arrogant king finally took notice of us quietly sitting in our mobile cages. He was a middle-aged man, not particularly handsome, but he bore the mark of someone who was very confident in himself and his right to rule.He studied the six of us for a moment, then loudly said with a smirk on his face, "I guess you Disians and Kertas are not so invincible after all. Everyone has their weakness and your foolish compassion for others was your final undoing. What a terrible shame to come all this way in your missions, only to fail and become my prisoners. You each must be extremely disappointed, which to me, is the very best part of all."Now. You have been found guilty of being spies and traitors to the Tolan emperor, so I will now pass sentence on each one of you. But before I do that, I have a surprise for you that I simply am going to love. I have chosen one of you to die this day."When he said that, I aggressively surged against my chains to try and find a way out of my cage! I turned on the Gift of Speed, but to no avail - the chains and locks were well design and unbreakable. Each of the Disian team members did the same as we frantically fought against our unyielding restraints. Finally, the mission team gave up and we all just glared up at him.The audience broke out into applause and the king laughed with absolute delight, saying with dark humor, "That was a wonderful display of your lightning warfare capabilities. I am so glad I got to witness it, but now we know that you are not without weaknesses."I also have chosen the individual whom will die this day and I think this person will be the most painful for the mission team members to watch. The middle-aged woman, the one you call Karoon, shall be the one to lose her life."Talena flew against the bars of her cage and shouted at the king, "Please let her live and take me instead! I promise, I will not resist, if you will just allow me to be the one! She has not done any of the things you accuse the mission team of! Let her live; please, please don't do this!"The rest of us also began repeatedly shouting to him in our own desperate attempts, to also take her place!
For anyone who has ever daydreamed of another life . . . Most days, you wouldn’t trade what you have for the world. You love your husband and your kids, and you are grateful to God for your life. But there are days when you feel as though life is rolling over you in waves and you are just going through the motions. You find yourself aching for something more, something that is calling to depths of who you are, maybe for something you can’t even name. For Sarah Mae, it was Paris, a place that is known for breathtaking beauty, inspiring art, and exquisite food. But as she searched her heart, she found there was more to her longings than she anticipated. Join Sarah Mae in Longing for Paris, a soul-searching, light-filled journey for the woman who knows she can’t uproot her life to discover herself and her longings, but who desperately wants to uncover them so she can get unstuck and choose a life that is filled with beauty, adventure, and deep joy . . . right where she is.
A major book on the subject of heaven, this expanded edition examines the hunger for heaven that is so strong in all of us. Fascinating and upbeat, Heaven, the Heart's Deepest Longing thoroughly explores the psychological and theological dimensions of this search for total joy and for the ultimate reality that grounds it.
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER • From the award-winning, best-selling author of the classic A Little Life—a bold, brilliant novel spanning three centuries and three different versions of the American experiment, about lovers, family, loss and the elusive promise of utopia. A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: VOGUE • ESQUIRE • NPR • GOODREADS To Paradise is a fin de siècle novel of marvelous literary effect, but above all it is a work of emotional genius. The great power of this remarkable novel is driven by Yanagihara’s understanding of the aching desire to protect those we love—partners, lovers, children, friends, family, and even our fellow citizens—and the pain that ensues when we cannot. In an alternate version of 1893 America, New York is part of the Free States, where people may live and love whomever they please (or so it seems). The fragile young scion of a distinguished family resists betrothal to a worthy suitor, drawn to a charming music teacher of no means. In a 1993 Manhattan besieged by the AIDS epidemic, a young Hawaiian man lives with his much older, wealthier partner, hiding his troubled childhood and the fate of his father. And in 2093, in a world riven by plagues and governed by totalitarian rule, a powerful scientist’s damaged granddaughter tries to navigate life without him—and solve the mystery of her husband’s disappearances. These three sections comprise an ingenious symphony, as recurring notes and themes deepen and enrich one another: A townhouse in Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village; illness, and treatments that come at a terrible cost; wealth and squalor; the weak and the strong; race; the definition of family, and of nationhood; the dangerous righteousness of the powerful, and of revolutionaries; the longing to find a place in an earthly paradise, and the gradual realization that it can’t exist. What unites not just the characters, but these Americas, are their reckonings with the qualities that make us human: Fear. Love. Shame. Need. Loneliness.
