{"id":3468,"date":"2016-04-25T00:10:00","date_gmt":"2016-04-24T16:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dimsumdolly.com\/?p=3468"},"modified":"2016-04-25T07:16:47","modified_gmt":"2016-04-24T23:16:47","slug":"u-for-unfulfilled","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dimsumdolly.net\/?p=3468","title":{"rendered":"U for Unfulfilled"},"content":{"rendered":"

“No. Contented. But unfulfilled. No children. I’m very good on my own. And I manage, I think, pretty well. But it takes courage.”<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

~ Anita Brookner (1928 \u2013 2016), novelist and art historian, on being asked if she was lonely in her final interview<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

I felt a dull ache in my heart as I read this quote from Brookner. As someone who never married and remained childless her whole life, Brookner was one who could eloquently \u2013 and convincingly \u2013 bring across the convoluted mix of emotions as a single woman.<\/p>\n

At this point in my life, a few years shy of 40 and having been on my own for many years, I can identify with what Brookner said above. Many of my friends have gotten married and started a family, and while I would like to have that for myself, I’m beginning to accept the fact that it may not happen for me. Yes, there is a sense of being unfulfilled, the not having a chance at experiencing companionate love and motherhood. But I think the contentment that Brookner spoke of comes with acceptance.<\/p>\n

I’m getting better at this acceptance thing. Like Brookner, I, too, think I manage pretty well on my own. And yes, it does<\/em> take courage. Heaps, truck loads of it. For what else can I do but give myself a pep talk, pick myself up and carry on? Self-pity is of no help and the acceptance of that unfulfilled component of my life is the only way to move forward.<\/p>\n

But I think the important thing for me to remember is that there are many ways to live a full and meaningful life. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“No. Contented. But unfulfilled. No children. I’m very good on my own. And I manage, I think, pretty well. But it takes courage.” ~ Anita Brookner (1928 \u2013 2016), novelist and art historian, on being asked if she was lonely … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3468","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books-literature-writings"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dimsumdolly.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3468","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dimsumdolly.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dimsumdolly.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dimsumdolly.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dimsumdolly.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3468"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.dimsumdolly.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3468\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3533,"href":"https:\/\/www.dimsumdolly.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3468\/revisions\/3533"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dimsumdolly.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3468"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dimsumdolly.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3468"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dimsumdolly.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3468"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}