Wallflowers at the Dance

Photo: Russian woman at Brighton Beach, Diana+

Here's a quote for the weekend:

"By and large, human beings have become wallflowers at the dance of nature.  In most instances, we feel exactly the same wistful longings but fearful inability to be ourselves, do what we want to do, be what we can be, that most wallflowers feel at dances.  Most of us are watchers, not dancers. We are not living, but fearfully maintaining our secure but deadened existence. We watch life on television or, just as unsatisfyingly, we watch life among others instead of living it ourselves. We watch life literally, not just metaphorically. It has become our politics, our sexuality, our morality, our spirituality.  We watch and vicariously pretend to be."

--The Art of Intimacy, Thomas Patrick Malone, M.D., and Patrick Thomas Malone, M.D.