“I don’t want to die without knowing who I am”

Quote from a “new” book I’m reading just now (Jane Fonda: My Life so Far):

“I once saw a quote from dancer/choreographer Martha Graham framed and hung on a wall in a ballet studio. It said DISCIPLINE IS LIBERATION. At first that seemed like an oxymoron – isn’t liberation the opposite of discipline? But discipline here doesn’t mean tightness and rigidity, or punishment for wrongdoing. It means being so committed and so fully contained that you can let go; so deeply connected that you can detach; so strong that you can be gentle. Liberation takes intentionality, deliberation, courage, and – yes – discipline.”

- and then:

“For me, discipline, liberation, means acknowledging my demons, banishing them to the corner, seeing my past and excising the old patterns and baggage to make room for stillness. It is within stillness that I will hear the small voice and know where it is leading me. Call that voice what you will, but it has always been there, although during my second act – and in much of my first, for that matter – it was too risky for me to hear it.”

- and further down – I read my own mantra:

“I don’t want to die without knowing who I am.”

- Can’t wait to read the next pages……………