The Book of Help Quotes

“My mother made it her business to never need anybody, and because of that she couldn't have needed anybody more.”
― Megan Griswold, The Book of Help: A Memoir in Remedies

“This is the material of my practice: I feel a lot. I feel a lot a lot of the time. I have a lot of energy, which gives me a lot of time to do stuff and then feel a lot about it. It appears that one of my life's passions has been the following: I seem to like to worry, then criticize myself, then worry some more. Occasionally, I think a couple of really solid thoughts, then I worry some more, then I worry about worrying. Then I judge myself for being a worrier who worries too much. Then I worry about how I judge myself about worrying that I worry too much. Then I worry that I judge that I worry about worrying. Then I just worry. Then I get sad that I wasted so much time worrying. Then I get sad that I feel so sad. Then I am disgusted that I felt so sad about worrying. Then I fantasize a couple things about myself and then about a couple of other people. Then I work for a while and have a couple of good thoughts.”
― Megan Griswold, The Book of Help: A Memoir in Remedies

“A reminder that life, even in its full pageantry, can be gone in a flash.”
― Megan Griswold, The Book of Help: A Memoir in Remedies

“I think that's what family is supposed to feel like: a group that works together, regroups together, and helps one another make life a little more comfortable - looking out for those around and among you.”
― Megan Griswold, The Book of Help: A Memoir in Remedies

“I had grown weary of so many rules. That's the thing about every discipline. There's often a format, a belief that if you don't follow the structure to the tiniest detail, you won't get the maximum value: mantras are private. Om is the most perfect sound in the universe. Never lay a sacred text to chant on the floor. If you are in a seminar, always wear a name tag. Put your name in the upper right hand corner of every essay. Just breathe. No, scream. No, cry or hit something. But don't lose yourself. Never do yoga on the full moon. Walk clockwise around a temple. Don't eat protein and starch in the same meal. Always begin the day with fruit. Don't eat any fruit. Never utter the word of G_d. There is no God. There are multiple gods. To be a good acupuncturist, "check your stuff" at the door. Bring all of you. Never do work on the Sabbath. Don't cary anything in your pockets. Consciousness is constant work. Accept Jesus. Read the Bible. There is no suffering. Acknowledge suffering as a noble truth. Tread lightly on the Earth. Leave no trace. Make your mark. Get noticed. Travel silently through life. Attend to the needs of others. Follow your bliss. Suppress. Express. Withhold. Let go. Let it in. Get off the grid. Join the marketplace. Go toward the light. Hadn't I heard enough?”
― Megan Griswold, The Book of Help: A Memoir in Remedies

“Her first memory is of neglect, alone in a room, sitting in a chair with no parental contact. No memory of a hug, a kiss, a pat.”
― Megan Griswold, The Book of Help: A Memoir in Remedies

“She couldn't be kind to me in the places where she wasn't kind to herself.”
― Megan Griswold, The Book of Help: A Memoir in Remedies

“Sometimes people experience so much pain - it's just too much for one person to hold. So someone helps you hold it. That's what I did - what I do. I have held her pain. And the worst part is, even that hasn't been enough. She still has to hold plenty on her own. But if you are really good at holding it - in this case, for somebody else, holding their pain - they don't even notice you're carrying it. So then they don't have to feel bad about it. And that's a good thing, because if they knew, you'd only be adding to it. You don't want them to feel bad about your carrying some of their load. Ever. Carry it long enough, and suddenly one day it's yours. It's hard to even separate: what was originally hers, what was mine. What was hers became mine.”
― Megan Griswold, The Book of Help: A Memoir in Remedies

“I knew I was being asked, in some unspoken way, to help put the broken pieces of her disjointed, painful life together, to help try to make her whole.”
― Megan Griswold, The Book of Help: A Memoir in Remedies

“It's precisely the things we like least about ourselves, the parts we struggle with the most, the parts we are most likely to hide, that are actually the parts that in some strange way most endear us to one another.”
― Megan Griswold, The Book of Help: A Memoir in Remedies

“What is sex if not vulnerable.”
― Megan Griswold, The Book of Help: A Memoir in Remedies

“I wonder whether the nature of the divine is to only get small vibrant tastes. Maybe the point is to savor it like one special chocolate wrapped in fine paper, rather than a box of them in bulk. Maybe it’s better this way—to leave one wanting more. A reminder that life, even in its full pageantry, can be gone in a flash.”
― Megan Griswold, The Book of Help: A Memoir in Remedies