“Sometimes it made her want to put her fist through glass; other times, it made her cry a river.”
In this quote by Jodi Picoult, the speaker describes the conflicting emotions that the situation evokes in them, highlighting the intense and overwhelming nature of their feelings. The imagery of wanting to put their fist through glass conveys a sense of frustration and anger, while the image of crying a river suggests deep sorrow and emotional pain. The juxtaposition of these two contrasting emotions illustrates the complexity of human emotions and the inner turmoil that can result from experiencing them simultaneously. It also captures the idea that emotions can be powerful and overwhelming, often leading to conflicting reactions and responses.
In our fast-paced and often overwhelming world, many of us can relate to the intense emotions described by Jodi Picoult in this quote. Whether it's frustration, anger, sadness, or a combination of all three, finding healthy outlets for our emotions is crucial for maintaining our mental well-being. Picoult's words remind us of the importance of acknowledging and processing our emotions in order to navigate the complexities of modern life.
"Sometimes it made her want to put her fist through glass; other times, it made her cry a river."
This quote by Jodi Picoult hints at the complex and conflicting emotions that can arise in challenging situations. Reflect on the following questions to delve deeper into the meaning behind this powerful statement:
Can you relate to times when you have felt a strong urge to express your emotions physically, like putting your fist through glass? What triggered these feelings and how did you manage them?
How do you typically cope with overwhelming emotions that make you feel like crying a river? What strategies have helped you navigate through difficult times and find emotional release?
In what ways do you think the act of physically releasing emotions (e.g. through breaking glass) differs from the act of crying to express emotions? How do these two forms of emotional release impact your mental and emotional well-being?
Have you ever experienced a situation where conflicting emotions, such as anger and sadness, coexist within you? How did you reconcile these conflicting emotions and find a sense of peace or resolution?
Reflect on a time when you felt a strong emotional reaction but were unable to express it fully. How did bottling up those emotions affect you in the long run, and what did you learn from that experience?
“But Katie knew it was a sin, had known from the moment she made the decision to lie with Adam. However, the transgression wasn't making love without the sanction of marriage. It was that for the first time in her life, Katie had put herself first. Put her own wants and needs above everything and everyone else.”
“The wine- it made her limbs loose and liquid, made her feel that a hummingbird had taken the place of her heart.”
“Peter tucked the glasses into the front pocket of Jordan’s jacket. “I kind of like knowing you’retaking care of them,” he said. “And there isn’t all that much I really want to see.”Jordan nodded. He walked out of the holding cell and said good-bye to the deputies. Then heheaded toward the lobby, where Selena was waiting.As he approached her, he put on Peter’s glasses. “What’s up with those?” she asked.“I kind of like them.”“You have perfect vision,” Selena pointed out.Jordan considered the way the lenses made the world curve in at the ends, so that he had to movemore gingerly through it. “Not always,” he said.”
“And he made love to her, offering his body in both tenderness and anger, unsure which was the best way to pass her bits of his soul so that she could patch her own with it”
“If I had to tell you how humans made their way to Earth, it would go like this: In the beginning, there was nothing at all but the moon and the sun. And the moon wanted to come out during the day, but there was something so much brighter that seemed to fill up all those hours. The moon grew hungry, thinner and thinner, until she was just a slice of herself, and her tips were as sharp as a knife. By accident, because that is the way most things happen, she poked a hole in the night and out spilled a million stars, like a fountain of tears. Horrified, the moon tried to swallow them up. And sometimes this worked, because she got fatter and rounder.. But mostly it didn't, because there were just so many. The stars kept coming, until they made the sky so bright that the sun got jealous. He invited the stars to his side of the world, where it was always bright. What he didn't tell them, though, was that in the daytime, they'd never be seen. So the stupid ones leaped from the sky to the ground, and they froze under the weight of their own foolishness. The moon did her best. She carved each of these blocks of sorrow into a man or a woman. She spent the rest of her time watching out so that her other stars wouldn't fall. She spent the rest of her time holding onto whatever scraps she had left.”
“If there was a religion of Annaism, and I had to tell you how humans made their way to Earth, it would go like this: In the beginning, there was nothing at all but the moon and the sun. And the moon wanted to come out during the day, but there was something so much brighter that seemed to fill up all those hours. The moon grew hungry, thinner and thinner, until she was just a slice of herself, and her tips were as sharp as a knife. By accident, because that is the way most things happen, she poked a hole in the night and out spilled a million stars, like a fountain of tears. Horrified, the moon tried to swallow them up. And sometimes this worked, because she got fatter and rounder.. But mostly it didn't, because there were just so many. The stars kept coming, until they made the sky so bright that the sun got jealous. He invited the stars to his side of the world, where it was always bright. What he didn't tell them, though, was that in the daytime, they'd never be seen. So the stupid ones leaped from the sky to the ground, and they froze under the weight of their own foolishness. The moon did her best. She carved each of these blocks of sorrow into a man or a woman. She spent the rest of her time watching out so that her other stars wouldn't fall. She spent the rest of her time holding onto whatever scraps she had left.”