Bittersweet: How Sorrow and Longing Make Us Whole

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Bittersweetness is a tendency to states of long?ing, poignancy, and sorrow; an acute aware?ness of passing time; and a curiously piercing joy at the beauty of the world. It recognizes that light and dark, birth and death --bitter and sweet--are forever paired. Cain shows how a bittersweet state of mind is the quiet force that helps us transcend our personal and collective pain. If we don't acknowledge our own heartache, she says, we can end up inflicting it on others via abuse, domination, or neglect. But if we realize that all humans know--or will know--loss and suffering, we can turn toward one another