Despair

Redeeming Passion Part 1: Joy and Despair

Reflection

Salvador Dali: Aliyah

This is the first time in my series on the passions that deals with our dark emotions. I often call these our ‘aversive’ emotions because they are internal experiences that we typically try to avoid.

One of the features of these posts will be this: I try to find two different versions of these emotions - the version that helps and the one that harms.

So on to despair. I should probably warn you that I talk about depression and suicide below, so look away now if you need to.

There is a history of mental illness in my family. My father struggled with depression and bipolar disorder, and attempted suicide on several occasions. My half-brother suffered from psychosis and eventually succeeded in ending his own life. I have seen other family members and friends struggle similarly.

I hope it goes without saying that this is the harmful kind of despair. I don’t see any redeeming features in this, and if you experience this then please find people who can help and su…