Comments on: Kathleen Norris

By: Marsha McGinnis

Marsha McGinnis — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 15:11:25 +0000

I have loved every book written by Kathleen Norris. She brings those moments of “Oh yes, I know that too!” I believe we are more complex than Mr. Sierra and those who agree with him like to acknowledge. And since these are personal opinions, what may be true for him and others is not true for the rest of us. Suffering from the age of 15 on would not include those “reason” for her depression, such as caring for her husband and her mother. It would certainly have to do with a predisposition to what she terms as Acedia. This is her story, and she states this in the book. She does not try to tell anyone else what they are suffering from. We are all flawed in one way or another. We suffer and learn and, it’s these experiences that bring some of us back to the faith of our childhood. Her books affirm this.

By: Kathryn Geier

Kathryn Geier — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 12:56:27 +0000

Kathleen Norris is a poet, and poets notice and name things for the rest us. From her personal experience she offers insights that resonate in other souls. As one of her readers, I’m very grateful that she undertakes the daily struggle to write. Her words and stories in themselves are a joy to read and she has given me a gift of increased self-understanding and courage. I also appreciate her memories of experiences similar to mine: living in Hawaii, growing up in a military family, and librarianship.

By: Glor

Glor — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 13:25:53 +0000

Thank you Kathleen Norris for using words so gracefully and teaching many of us, myself included,such a useful lesson. I do not sense any judgment here, simply identification of the qualities of acedia. Why must everything be turned into a disease or an imperfection by humans? The tide is low sometimes; the tide is high other times. Some nights the moon is full, other times it is a crystal curve and that’s it. Trees bloom and go bare. We accept this in nature-why will we not accept phases in our mortal span. These phenomena exist,I believe, for our faith and our edification. Thank you Kathllen Norris for conveying acedia so wonderfully well. Your insights tell not only of wisdom, but these words
are such a comfort, such a comfort.

By: msmills

msmills — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 18:39:45 +0000

YES, the answer is Love.

By: msmills

msmills — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 18:38:36 +0000

Kathleen Norris is Right On… acedia, it is, and she certainly knows to consider and recognise depression as something different. Writers are among the human beings especially apt to know acedia, and depression, too, in some cases. She describes acedia rather well which is important given the inability of some to understand it including persons to jump to assumptions of depression, anger, conflicting emotions. Norris is well aware of all such possibilities. She has told others of Acedia.

By: Ileen Taylor Johnston

Ileen Taylor Johnston — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 00:24:14 +0000

I’m just starting to read “Dakota” and have trouble putting it down.I lived in Dakota until ‘60.Dr Christen was my husbands bro-inlaw so I’ve been to Lemon several times.We met John Norris in Hi.,and my John Taylor were good friends until Your dad passed.We loved the Dixie Band.We have so much to talk about and I don’t think this is the place for that.I would so love to talk with you.If this reaches you E-mail me please.

By: kat

kat — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 17:54:30 +0000

Kathleen Norris doesn’t deny that she has been depressed and has even sought help (meds and doctors), but she also thinks that acedia is different from depression, and I agree. I have suffered from depression, too, and from acedia as well, and I know the difference. I agree that as a society we have grown so fond of finding “causes” for our feelings and “cures” them that we have simply abdicated our responsibility as people to live through some things. We all do grow old and die(if we’re lucky) or die young if something out of the ordinary happens (disease/accident) and we have to live through those times, both when they happen in our own lives and in the lives of those we love. Acedia is very real, but sometimes it takes a finely tuned spiritual life to tell the difference between acedia and depression.

By: Louise Leahy

Louise Leahy — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 16:13:37 +0000

I am assuming all the people who think Ms. Norris is “in denial about being depressed” are making this judgement without having read any of her books, and especially not “Aceida & Me”,” in which she makes a distinction between acedia (which is in some ways a technical monastic term) and depression. If some of your respondents cannot make the distinction because they have not had experience with one or the other, then I say their lives have been singularly blessed!

By: Suzie Adams

Suzie Adams — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 04:55:22 +0000

Ms. Norris certainly has every right to define how she feels with any words she chooses and only she really knows what specifically that encompasses. I agree that aecidia in clinical views, is encompassed in how we may define depression, which is a most complex, and individualized diagnosis in itself.
That being said I think the term aecidia predates the depression tag. I believe it was used to describe one of the seven deadly sins written by Dante in the early 1300’s. It was attached to, or interchanged with, the least desirable word sloth.
Ascedia afflicts those suffering from sloth, and may more accurately be a reflection of it’s more advanced stages Arguably more difficult, or unlikely to be treatable then sloth alone.
Does this describe depression’s symptoms? No doubt it could be called a form of depression, but aecidia is a truer, more original, and obviously a more personal definition used by Ms. Norris to convey something deeper. Semantically she is also correct when terminology is held to these tests.
I too agree we are projecting our own perspectives and experiences onto her descriptions, and views, by assuming to know either way. Nor do I believe that these were her reasons, or intentions for sharing these feelings, and descriptions in the first place. It appears to have a deeper, more theologically based intent.
Then I too am making a biased ass-u-me here, and it seems to be our nature to do so. Empathy reveals it’s truths we all share in common, and apparently for Ms. Norris provided her the strength, and power to persevere, and complete her writing in spite of it all. That she learned this through prayer and Scripture is all the more reason to respect her work, and admire her willingness to share these intimate, and private tribulations, to offer hope and inspiration to all of us who also may share in same, or similar woes as part of the human condition. No doubt her work will in time help others along these common paths that may be overcome, or endured in spite of obstacles, like depression, or fate.

By: A K

A K — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 20:30:04 +0000

From the perspective of a student preparing to be a clinical psychologist, and of one who has suffered intimately from depression, I would agree that Ms. Norris has merely assigned another word to describe what we already understand as depression. It is a mistake to presume that depression is always defined by feelings of anger or anguish. More often, depression manifests itself as severe apathy; an often infuriatingly intense feeling of apathy that cannot be shaken. It is so excessive at times that it eradicates all traces of an individual’s motivation even to roll out of bed and start the day’s routine. This is exactly what Ms. Norris has described, and this is undeniably and unequivocally depression. Any competent clinician would tell you the same thing.