SADNESS

Sadness is imperturbable: it doesn’t change, it makes itself visible in a number of ways. There is a fern growing near the top of a prominent hill by the city. You are familiar with the fern and you believe that there probably aren’t many other people who have ever considered the fern, though many people come from the city and climb to the top of the hill. When you stand above the fern and face west against the skyline, you begin to feel empowered. You have imbued upon the fern your sadness. You imagine the people from the city brushing past the fern and taking on bits of that sadness until the fern is no longer sad. You climb again to the top of the hill and stand, facing west, above the fern.

To embody your sadness is to dramatize it – the fern is ridiculous because it always appears sad.