Monday, January 24, 2011

Amor Fati

i've got a new tattoo idea that im bursting to get. over the last few years it seems like i've been set on this trajectory of self improvement, of overcoming, of working really, really hard at living better within my life and skin. busting to get out of this mortality is a spirit that i want to nurture to be always better, kinder, more patient, and so on. anyways, when dealing with my post traumatic stress disorder i realize how often i live and act and feel "in spite of" or "because of" and not simply because. (i hope that makes sense) i've stumbled onto a phrase, rather a philosophy of sorts called Amor Fati. it is a quote by Nietzsche which translates to "love your fate". expanding on that it kind of means that you not just accept but embrace what has happened, what is happening, and what will happen to you all as a collection of your destiny, of what has brought you here to this very moment. there ceases to be a rejection or fighting of your past but you celebrate it because it happened and it made you who you are. lightbulb moment x1000! it doesn't mean celebrating what happened but loving that it is all part of a single, continuous story of who you are and where you are. i've already spoken with my tattoo artist kat about forming a piece around the phrase/philosophy. can't wait to see how it shakes out!

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Hey Jenny,
I found this a while ago...which is a bit odd considering your latest blog! Anyway, hope you enjoy. It makes a lot sense and seems to aide in getting through soe days with more of a mellow, inner vibe.

-Karen

What if a demon were to creep after you one day or night, in your loneliest loneness, and say: "This life which you live and have lived, must be lived again by you, and innumerable times more. And there will be nothing new in it, but every pain and every joy and every thought and every sigh— everything unspeakably small and great in your life—must come again to you, and in the same sequence and series." Would you not throw your self down and curse the demon who spoke to you thus? Or have you once experienced a tremendous moment, in which you would answer him: "Thou art a god, and never have I heard anything more divine!"

- Nietzsche, The Gay Science (1882)

Anonymous said...

That is the EXACT phrase I've been toying with getting for the last two and half years. Simple cursive script, lower case on my right wrist under my ribbon and FCH (Faith, Courage, Hope). Life is BEAUTIFUL!