Melancholy

Constant soul-searching anxiety? Just irrational fear for the sake of it?

"Melancholy...is the character of mortality" — says Robert Burton.

Deep within the soul, there lies this hidden mortality of the soul—melancholy is the sickness that hits everyone the moment they realize they aren't immortal.

Melancholy is the state every life falls into once consciousness kicks in—the realization that you aren't eternal, but that you will eventually vanish and decay. It's that AWARENESS OF DECAY, lurking right where you least expect it—IN THE VERY SOUL THAT IS SUPPOSED TO BE IMMORTAL.

Step two: Burton never actually came out and said whether the soul is mortal or immortal. He didn't say yes or no. Melancholy is just this dual state, an unsolvable paradox of "maybe."

Didn't even Oliver see it coming:
"Melancholy, in the soul, in the soul, in my soul sleeps..."

Has anyone ever been "there" and actually come back alive?😉

I just got totally played by some cold, hard truth...

Honestly, Larry Hayes5... what am I even supposed to say to you anymore? How many times do I have to call out those "now you see me, now you don't" magician tricks you keep pulling? 😁

🙂

It certainly wasn't an actual answer to the question at hand... more like just a passing comment along the lines of "Google, damn, there might actually be something to
"

Oleander said:http://www.dur.ac.uk/r.a.barton/ Is this the one?
And from now on, always quote Larry Hayes5 (just like you do me)! 😉

It's not that Robi, it's THIS

P.S. screw you guys. Stand by what you say instead of trying to "filter" everything. 😬

Melancholy=sad monster

Say Burton that you can't bring anything with you there except yourself—but the real question is, can you even bring *yourself*?

You don't just "decide" to descend. It either happens or it doesn't. Like they say, it's all up to God's grace.

The sheer terror of nonexistence—realizing how mortal we actually are right when everyone claims we've reached the center of immortality...

I have to disagree with you there. There are plenty of people out there who are acutely aware of how fleeting life is, yet they don't let themselves get swallowed up by melancholy.
Actually, I’d argue that melancholy isn't necessarily about the transience of *oneself*—it's more about the realization that everything, absolutely everything, eventually reaches an end.

But then again, maybe melancholy is just a symptom of a spirit that can't see what's right in front of it... or perhaps it's a spirit that stares too far into the distance? In focusing so intensely on those vast, distant horizons, we might miss the beauty of what is sitting right here, in this very moment. And honestly, no life is ever truly wasted if it was lived well... the ripples we create in the waters of time echo on toward eternity. Isn't that its own kind of immortality?

The Nigredo phase.

Dragonfly said:It isn't that Robbie guy, it is THIS

P.S. Get a grip. Stand by what you say instead of trying to "filter" everything. 😬

Here is the final distillation, passed through some makeshift funnels and a cooling unit 🙂 😁 :

There is a kernel of truth in there, but it becomes an incredibly toxic and unhealthy philosophy if you consume any amount larger than a "homeopathic" dose.

Do you have any idea what these two are up to right now? 😁

I’m honestly tempted to start giving out advice to some of the people on here too... 🙄