On 24.09.2024, I attended a lecture by Dr. Annamária Kádár, a psychologist, trainer, and university lecturer. There I heard a poem that immediately captured my attention. It is a strange “coincidence” that about two weeks later I read this very poem again in a book.
When I first heard the poem, but also in the weeks that followed, I thought several times about how good a poem I thought it was, how well it summarizes the progress of a person on the path of self-knowledge. I do not want to analyze the poem, because I prefer to leave that to everyone. I would rather just tell you that when I started thinking about the meaning of the poem, I dared to think that I was already around the 4th or 5th stanza in my own life.
The events and ideas of the past few weeks clearly show that my life has entered chapter 5. Both in the physical and spiritual sense.
Here is the poem:
Portia Nelson: Autobiography in Five Short Chapters
I.
I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I fall in. I am lost. I am helpless.
It isn’t my fault.
It takes forever to find a way out.
II.
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I still don’t see it. I fall in again.
I can’t believe I am in the same place.
It isn’t my fault.
It still takes a long time to get out.
III.
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I see it there, I still fall in.
It’s habit. It’s my fault. I know where I am.
I get out immediately.
IV.
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I walk around it.