Bewilderment

Fanny Howe explains bewilderment is a way of entering the day as much as the work. I think the meaning of bewilderment is when you get lost in yourself and you are confused because things repeat in your life and you still don’t know how to see them. Fanny Howe explains even when you see things over and over again you still might not recognize it. In the story she says, “But there are strange returns and recognitions and never a conclusion.” She also explains how bewilderment means lost by saying, “And even if it is associated with childhood, madness, stupidity, and failure, even if it shows not only how to get lost but also how it feels not to return…” Even if you recognize these things you still might feel lost. We need certainty in our lives because things should be set so we don’t get confused and lost. We need bewilderment in our lives because when things repeat we learn from the past situations and we know how to handle what is coming up. Fanny Howe is explaining how when you lose someone you love you learn from the repeating process. Howe says, “This action can produce guilt, withdrawal, and rumination that some might read as depression. But to preserve, and return to a past you have voluntarily left- to suffer remorse- has always signaled a station in spiritual progress.”