From The Daily Dialogue
From The Daily Dialogue
Broadcast of 6/11/98
Subject: [DailyDialogue #161] Sadness
"Sadness does not inhere in things; it does not reach us from the world and through mere contemplation of the world. It is a product of our own thought. We create it out of whole cloth." - Émile Durkheim (1858–1917), French sociologist.
Émile Durkheim is saying that sadness is not the inherent nature of things. If there is a Higher Power that is everywhere present and that power is good, then good is everywhere present. Whether we believe this to be true or not, the idea can lift our spirits.
Émile Durkheim states that we create sadness out of whole cloth. "Whole cloth" refers to fabrication out of newly manufactured, full-sized pieces of cloth. Durkheim is saying that we create sadness from our thoughts. Sadness does not represent actuality but has been invented. It is produced by the imagination and is not necessarily based on fact.
If this is true and I were depressed, having no hope of a solution to my despair, I would begin by examining my thoughts. I could then choose what I wanted to make of my life. I could construct a beautiful garment from weaving thoughts of love or fear, hope or depression.
Experiment: Dialogue about the things about which you feel sad. Identify the thoughts that may have created your sadness.
Affirmation: I am open to a new way of thinking.
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