And as you open yourself to the bittersweet, you might realize that relentless positivity is overrated. Learning to reconcile ourselves to – and even embrace – the bitter side of life can help us live more sweetly. In other words, as you’ll learn in this summary, these two seemingly conflicting ideas often work in tandem. If you’ve never tasted bitterness, you can’t recognize sweetness. Without darkness, you don’t notice the light. And moments of happiness wouldn’t feel special at all. The people you love wouldn’t feel so precious. Without them, life’s joys would be more mundane. See, sadness, pain, and loss all have an important role to play. Loved ones never die.Ĭould you be happy in this kind of world? Maybe you’re thinking, Of course! But it might be harder than you think.

riddled with worry or anxiety about the future. Imagine a world without sadness, loss, or suffering. Mindfulness, Happiness, Personal Development, Religion, Spirituality, Self-Help, Relationships, Emotional Mental Health, Love and Loss, Popular Psychology Personality Study, Science, Philosophy, Sociology, Self-Improvement, Personal Transformation Introduction: Open yourself up to both joy and pain. We lose a lot when we think of ourselves as winners. The way we meet our pain defines who we are. Introduction: What’s in it for me? Open yourself up to both joy and pain.Įmotions can’t be neatly compartmentalized. It also shows how vulnerability can be a strength, longing can be a guide, and sorrow can set us on the path to joy and fulfillment. It argues that opening up to the bittersweet, where pain and joy mingle, allows us to experience life to the fullest. Bittersweet (2022) is a profound meditation on an often-overlooked emotional experience – the bittersweet.

A grief observed sparknotes