In this episode of Poetic Pause, we sit with a stanza that asks us to reconsider our relationship to desire, discipline, and freedom.

So often, we are taught to mistrust our wanting—to see desire as weakness, indulgence, or moral failure. Over time, this denial becomes normalized. We learn to equate suffering with virtue and to place pain at the center of our lives, offering ourselves up at its altar.

This stanza invites a different orientation: what if freedom begins with honesty? What if owning our wanting opens a pathway out of unnecessary suffering?

Stanza:

It is only through owning our wantingthat we own our freedom,that we own the possibility of escaping suffering.To deny our desires—We worship pain over pleasure, placing at itsaltar, sacrificed souls.

This episode is not about excess or indulgence. It is about noticing where sacrifice has become reflexive, unquestioned, and costly.

The Practice Is Simple

Pause for 30 seconds

Read the words

Sit in silence as long as you need

Reflection Question

Where in your life are you sacrificing too much?

Thank you for pausing.Nothing more. Nothing less.Just a pause.

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