Reading "Lear"

On a recent rode trip my husband and I listened to an audiobook of “King Lear”. What struck us most about the reading was not only the tragedy of Shakespeare’s play, but how differently we read the play now, in mid-life compared to our first read as teenagers. The play didn’t change. Lear is still Lear. And all the supporting characters play out their roles as we knew they would, but we approached this read (which was actually an amazing recording with Paul Scofield as Lear) with much more compassion and humility. Who doesn’t get to this stage of life without regrets? But this isn’t about regret; it’s about the never ending story that is our life.

We change the perspective of our lives with a good reframe, which I will note emphatically is not disassociation or suppression; rather it is a wider and more all-encompassing perspective that includes the joy and the pain. And each new day is an opportunity to do things differently.

I have a friend who says “I believe in fate, but sometimes we have to help fate along.” I agree with her. I’m not talking toxic positivity here; I’m talking about not getting stuck in the old narrative. And, along the way, as we write new stories, always always we benefit from heaps and piles of self-compassion. Because if we could have done it differently, we would have.

So here we are, another day. Another Jewish New Year, another season upon us. Many many opportunities for renewal.