“It was once suggested to me that, as an antidote to crying, I put my head in a paper bag. As it happens, there is a sound physiological reason, something to do with oxygen, for doing exactly that, but the psychological effect alone is incalculable: it is difficult in the extreme to continue fancying oneself Cathy in Wuthering Heights with one's head in a Food Fair bag. There is a similar case for all the small disciplines, unimportant in themselves; imagine maintaining any kind of swoon, commiserative or carnal, in a cold shower.”
More from Joan Didion
“Remember what it is to be me. That is always the point.”
“The fear is not for what is lost. What is lost is already in the wall. The fear is for…”
“Grief turns out to be a place none of us know until we reach it.”
“We know that someone close to us will die. We might expect to feel shock. We do not expect…”