The search for a better life is a sweet adventure in which mind and body take part; and learning is not from without — it is a growth from within!
How comforting is this feeling of being loved by others!
On a chair in my office sat Layla, her eyes reddened with tears, her hands roughened by housework; as for her hair and her clothes, they no longer counted for anything in brightness of appearance — and yet she is rich, with an ample yearly income.
She began to study art with my help, and she showed a mighty effort, using every particle of her energy for the work; but all she produced were pictures without imagination, with no touch of art upon them. Still, I gave her high marks for her effort — and what else could I have done, when she was burdened with scattered thoughts, despair, and bitter failure, weighing like a mountain upon her shoulders?...
"Soon I shall be an artist whose fame the caravans carry abroad" — she said this, addressing her words to me, the sweat of embarrassment streaming down her cheeks; and she went on: "Nervousness is breaking
me; my husband never ceases to wound me for turning my eye from the affairs of the household; even my children pelt me with rough words past bearing; and my father-in-law's stinging criticisms make bad matters worse. I know no such thing as respect from anyone — but what do I care? Tomorrow I shall be an artist!..."
I understood that Layla was passing through an inward struggle. Could I demolish the palace of her hopes and tell her plainly that she was pursuing a deceptive idea? The situation obliged me to encourage her and strengthen her, and then to show her how to plan her life; and there are many like Layla.
Anxiety goes back to a quarrel that arises between pleasing oneself and pleasing one's family, or one's teachers and friends. The first thing a person must do to master the situation is to ask a question such as this: What do I really want from life?... And then: to reach my ambition, what is my equipment? What weapon have I made ready?
The Layla of whom I speak is the mother of four children; her husband is away on a business journey, comes home but rarely, and then for short spells shot