“I began to draw an invisible boundary between myself and other people. No matter who I was dealing with. I maintained a set distance, carefully monitoring the person’s attitude so that they wouldn’t get any closer. I didn’t easily swallow what other people told me. My only passions were books and music”
Explore This Quote Further
Analysis
In this quote from Haruki Murakami, the speaker describes a sense of detachment and isolation from others, as well as a deep connection to books and music. The use of an "invisible boundary" suggests a deliberate effort to distance oneself emotionally from those around them. This could be seen as a coping mechanism or a form of self-protection. The speaker's focus on books and music as their only passions further emphasizes their need for solace and escape from the outside world. This quote highlights themes of isolation, introspection, and the power of art to provide comfort and meaning in a seemingly disconnected world.
Creating Emotional Boundaries in a Digital Age
In this quote, Haruki Murakami touches on the importance of setting boundaries and maintaining a sense of self in a world filled with constant connections and influences. With the rise of social media and digital communication, it is more important than ever to be mindful of how we interact with others and protect our emotional well-being. Setting boundaries can help us maintain our individuality and not lose ourselves in the noise of external opinions and influences.
Setting Boundaries and Prioritizing Passions
In this quote, Haruki Murakami describes how he sets boundaries with others by maintaining a certain distance and carefully monitoring their attitude. He prioritizes his own passions for books and music above all else. This shows his strong sense of self and his commitment to protecting his own emotional well-being.
Reflection Questions:
In this quote, Haruki Murakami touches on the theme of maintaining boundaries with others in order to protect oneself. Reflect on the following questions to delve deeper into your own experiences and thoughts:
- Have you ever experienced a need to draw an invisible boundary between yourself and others?
- How do you maintain boundaries in your relationships with others, especially when it comes to monitoring their attitudes?
- Do you find it difficult to swallow what other people tell you, as Murakami describes? How does this affect your interactions with others?
- In what ways do books and music serve as your passions and sources of solace, as they did for Murakami? How do they influence your sense of self and boundaries with others?
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“make believe forestI began to draw an invisible boundary between myself and other people. No matter who I was dealing with. I maintained a set distance, carefully monitoring the person’s attitude so that they wouldn’t get any closer. I didn’t easily swallow what other people told me. My only passions were books and music.”
“My only passions were books and music. As you might guess, I led a lonely life… Not that I knew what I wanted in life - I didn’t. I loved reading novels to distraction, but didn’t write well enough to be a novelist; being an editor or a critic was out, too, since my tastes ran to the extremes. Novels should be for pure personal enjoyment, I decided, not part of your work or study. That’s why I didn’t study literature”
“I find it hard to talk about myself. I'm always tripped up by the eternal who am I? paradox. Sure, no one knows as much pure data about me as me. But when I talk about myself, all sorts of other factors--values, standards, my own limitations as an observer--make me, the narrator, select and eliminate things about me, the narratee. I've always been disturbed by the thought that I'm not painting a very objective picture of myself.This kind of thing doesn't seem to bother most people. Given the chance, people are surprisingly frank when they talk about themselves. "I'm honest and open to a ridiculous degree," they'll say, or "I'm thin-skinned and not the type who gets along easily in the world." Or "I am very good at sensing others' true feelings." But any number of times I've seen people who say they've easily hurt other people for no apparent reason. Self-styled honest and open people, without realizing what they're doing, blithely use some self-serving excuse to get what they want. And those "good at sensing others' true feelings" are duped by the most transparent flattery. It's enough to make me ask the question: How well do we really know ourselves?The more I think about it, the more I'd like to take a rain check on the topic of me. What I'd like to know more about is the objective reality of things outside myself. How important the world outside is to me, how I maintain a sense of equilibrium by coming to terms with it. That's how I'd grasp a clearer sense of who I am.”
“I’ve had that kind of experience myself: I’m looking at a map and I see someplace that makes me think, ‘I absolutely have to go to this place, no matter what’. And most of the time, for some reason, the place is far away and hard to get to. I feel this overwhelming desire to know what kind of scenery the place has, or what people are doing there. It’s like measles - you can’t show other people exactly where the passion comes from. It’s curiosity in the purest sense. An inexplicable inspiration.”
“I don't know if I have the strength to care for Yukiko and the children, I thought. No more visions can help me, weaving special dreams just for me. As far as the eye can see, the void is simply that — a void. I've been in that void before and forced myself to adjust. And now, finally, I end up where I began and I'd better get used to it. No one will weave dreams for me — it is my turn to weave dreams for others. That's what I have to do. Such dreams may have no power, but if my own life is to have any meaning at all, that is what I have to do.Probably.”
“This kind of thing doesn't seem to bother most people. Given the chance, people are surprisingly frank when they talk about themselves. "I'm honest and open to a ridiculous degree," they'll say, or "I'm thin-skinned and not the type who gets along easily in the world." Or "I am very good at sensing others' true feelings." But any number of times I've seen people who say they're easily hurt hurt other people for no apparent reason. Self-styled honest and open people, without realizing what they're doing, blithely use some self-serving excuse to get what they want. And those "good at sensing others' true feelings" are duped by the most transparent flattery. It's enough to make me ask the question: How well do we really know ourselves?”