Flumes
Vol. 2, Issue 2.1
Summer 2017
Click above to see open calls for submissions.
There is a contradiction, she writes:
that identifies agony (Agonie) and numbness (Narkose) as the options open to us in the suffering. The conflict consists of the contradiction between the avoidance of suffering, not-having-seen and not-wanting-to-see-anything, and seeking to protect oneself with the diverse and increasingly improving means of numbing, on the one hand; and the preferential option . . . wherein people voluntarily enter into the pain of others . . . ‘Numbness’ is a metaphor for apathy, ‘agony’ is one for compassion.
My hope, my desire, is to hold on to these experiences of interrelatedness, loving one’s neighbor, and compassionate suffering. As challenging as it may be to exist within the tension of this agony, it is far worse to live numb.
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Graffiti Art Nor Cal Auto, Yuba City, CA