Understanding The Role of Opposing Emotions Through Poetry

Naomi Shihab Nye

In a previous post, we shared about understanding sadness in order to understand joy. The same can be true for sorrow and kindness.

The poet, Naomi Shihab Nye wrote the poem Kindness in this same light. She writes, “Before you know kindness as the deepest thing inside, / You must know sorrow as the deepest thing.” Her poetry is so moving as is the powerful back story of traveling to Columbia with her husband and the incident that truly brought the poem Kindness to her.

Listen to Naomi Shihab Nye read the poem Kindness here and also hear her share the experience that brought Kindness to her.

Think about your life. How have you experienced opposing emotions? How have you grown from these experiences and cultivated more resilience because of them?