How to be happy though human / by W. Béran Wolfe.
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seemed to be his face value, not inquiring into his motives,
his background, or his goal in life.
Her marriage was her first contact with reality, and it
was a crushing and bruising encounter, both for her
body and for her spirit. Her vivid belief in the existence
of a very real Santa Claus was cruelly dispelled, and with
the disappearance of her illusions came a host of new
responsibilities for which she was completely unprepared.
Under such circumstances every human being racks his
memory for the techniques that have proved effective in
the past. Her first impulse was to write to her mother
and get help—-to re-establish the dependency of her
childhood. When her mother failed her she experienced
a sense of betrayal for which she never forgave her.
At this time she dreamed a series of dreams which were
repetitions and variations of the “ little girl lost in the
wood ” dream which was her earliest childhood memory.
She quickly disentangled herself from her mesalliance,
and with this removal of her first human responsibility,
the first movement of the symphony of her life ends.
The second movement of her life symphony is opened
by the theme : “ The world is a dangerous place. I must
avoid all contacts and responsibilities which might get
me into trouble.” With this theme she retires to the
security of her bed, and circumscribes the sphere of her
human activity to her four walls. The counter-theme is
stated unconsciously thus : “ It is best to re-establish
my security by utilizing all the tried and trusted tools of
my childhood—sickness, obstinacy, snobbery, isolation,
irresponsibility, egoism, and dependence.” How beauti¬
fully appropriate all these devices are to her goal. How
could anyone avoid the implications of communal life
better than by making a hopeless invalid of himself ?
What a magnificent sickness it is that defies the efforts
of all the specialists. How completely you can make slaves
of your family by maintaining such an obstinate disease.
During this period Elsie trained herself for her task
in a very naive way. She obtained a set of the Lives of
the Saints and read voraciously and assiduously, identifying