Bittersweet

I bought this book when I was looking for something else: its title hit me between the eyes. The word “bittersweet” encapsulates everything I often feel; I was nodding along in self-recognition.

If I’m honest, I’ve probably internalised a certain amount of shame around my strong emotions. Definitely, I’ve longed to feel less viscerally about the highs and lows of life. Or, at least, to feel them sequentially – instead of jumbled together: wonderful things tinged with the sadness of impermanence; hard things somehow glowing around the edges with the feeling of being really alive.

What to do with all… show more.

Susan Cain has been on my radar since I read her book Quiet. I related heavily to that book and to this one even more!

I've always been drawn to sad songs, sad stories, and movies that put a lump in my throat. This book made me realize I'm not alone. More than that, this exploration into all things bittersweet and why we're drawn to them totally changed how I see myself.

I understand now that I am simply wired for "bittersweet," and that this quality can be a superpower for me as a writer and as a human. And… show more.

When you’re going through the ups and downs of grief, someone telling you that your experience is making you grow as a person is likely the last thing you want to hear, but Susan Cain makes a solid case for joy and sadness being intertwined.

People often feel drawn to sadness because permanent joy doesn’t work. Cain tells us that we need not strive for joy or sadness because they will always be there, essentially holding hands. What we need to look for is acceptance. As a fan of her bestselling book Quiet, I was excited to see her… show more.

I love this book. It’s the exact intermingling of sorrow, melancholy, and connection and Joy that I espouse in mine.

Susan Cain takes us on a global search of how the connection and creativity that arises from sorrow is universal, so very human. And how this acknowledgment of the pain can lead us to greater connection and belonging.

This book is one I have post-it noted, ear flapped, and come back to over and over.