The Easy Despair of Moving Slowly

How do we integrate the parts of ourselves we most want to avoid?

David Hockney, Rain, 1973

Recently someone described me as sunshine in a bottle. My energy has often been reflected back to me as bright and warm. Once in my early 20s, someone I had a crush on saw me at a bar, pulled me close, and he said, "You’re just like a ray of sunshine.“ The comment surprised me so thoroughly, it kept me warm for years.

I’ve always…