The "Exacting Joy" of Unknowable Outcomes
A New Years Day Reflection
I came across a line in a poem by Ann Ridler a couple of weeks ago that I can’t stop thinking about:
To bear new life or learn to live is an exacting joy:
The whole self must awaken . . .1
Exacting. Joy.
Those words make for strange pair, don’t they?
Exacting means “making great demands on one’s skill, attention, or other resources.” Synonyms include demanding