Jacqueline Simon Gunn

"I learned to run toward the pain, not away from it. There is nothing like that feeling: pushing, your legs like two powerhouses, your cadence a seemingly effortless rhythm in sync with your mind, every emotional pain you ever experienced washed away by your power to endure. A personal thought I often have after a great run: The pain of running relieves the pain of living."

"I may never fly—in the bird sort of way. But I do have wings."

"The Existentially Preoccupied Long Distance Runner Sometimes I like to run so hard and for so longwith each mile I can feel the pain of my own awareness,my own heightened consciousness of what ails me,the ills of the world,the limitations of our existence,the losses we must endure,the superficial interactions. Sometimes I like to run so hard and for so longthat I can feel all of these feelings seep out of the pours of my own skin,the sweat cleansing my very being,my awareness of beauty heightened,the experience of joy possible,each mile, each minute, ridding me of these feelings,washing away the illusions,showing me the truth. Sometimes I like to run so hard and for so long…until finally I feel free…until finally I AM free…"

"Sweat dripped down his chest. She never thought she could envy a piece of fabric, until she saw the T-shirt kissing his skin the way she wanted to."

"Time is a daunting thing; it’s inescapable. Some moments pass unobserved and others stay with us, remaining frozen, lasting a lifetime..."

"Life can be difficult at times and many questions have no answers. The determination it takes to go on and the resiliency required of the human spirit to find joy is an integral part of existing as human. Running is symbolic of this struggle. The joy and satisfaction come from meeting the challenge head on, and realizing that just when you think you cannot go on anymore, if you pull deep from within yourself,you will find strength beyond anything imaginable."

"We can reach untainted experiential freedom, by living in the moment as it is—without contemplation. Here we find the possibility of freedom—of just being—living as our authentic self. We are our true nature. We are one and whole."

"The Silence of the Final Goodbye I knew you best from the silences,The time and space in between,The moment before our lips touched,The way your arms went up in the air before you laughed,The smile that we shared before we talked,The redness on your face before your tears,The sensation of your arms around me after you released the embrace. The look you gave me before you walked away,Nothing had ever been so painful,No words could say what your eyes told me,When I wake in the morning without you,It’s the first thing I hear…The silence of the final goodbye."

"She wasn’t broken. She was made up of a thousand tiny little cracks. She was always trying to keep herself glued together. But it was hard, she felt too much. No matter what she did, her emotions seeped through,sometimes in drips, other times in floods,She felt everything,the heaviness of the clouds right before rain,the rush of the subway cars as they left the station,the feeling of goodbye as she watched someone walk away,wondering if it was the last time she would see them,the feeling of a kiss lingering on her cheek for hours. She felt the loneliness of the sun as it hung in the sky,shedding light on the day,without companion. And she longed to give as much as the sun. If she could brighten someone’s day,bestow warmth were there was cold,make someone smile, give someone hope,then for a minute, an hour, maybe even a day,the cracks would fill with loveand the pain would become only a voice,reminding her that her pain was important. She knew how fragile life was, how hard,and how precious. She wanted to feel it all."

"I highly recommend running through grassy trails in the rain. There is a haven of serenity out in nature, the sound of raindrops and the scent of flowers, the feeling of the water along my skin. Even in the middle of a busy city and an insane world, there is beauty everywhere. All we have to do is pause long enough to notice."

"Looking back, retrospectively on the events of that evening, I can see the irony — the shrink whose cat ate his own tail. At the time of the incident, however, humor was not in my emotional repertoire; it was the furthest thing from my mind."

"This may sound like a bunch of psychobabble, but the truth is that we are all filled with contradictions; personality is fluid not black and white. And, well…we are all both strongand weak. That’s what it means to be human. We all have flaws, weaknesses. The real strength is when we can admit these to ourselves and become able to show them to others."

"Life is ephemeral; each moment passes quickly, a blur of color on a fast moving subway car. There and gone and all we are left with is the imprint of what once was."

"We must love those close to us, all the time, every day. Moments only happen once. Make them matter."

"I wanted to feel less. To not be burdened by emotion,To not feel sadness,To not know loss. I envied the inanimate,The trees that stand proudly in winter,Not missing their leaves."

"Empty Spaces I wanted to feel less. To not be burdened by emotion,To not feel sadness,To not know loss. I envied the inanimate,The trees that stand proudly in winter,Not missing their leaves. I wanted to be weightless,To not experience limitation. I didn’t want time to pass,The blur of days, months, years. It moved too quickly,I wanted to grasp on,Hold it. It eluded me,Intangible,Like light. I wanted to preserve life before you were gone. I didn’t want to know grief. But the pain kept me connected. It meant that I loved you,It meant that I would always be a little broken,It meant that our love filled all of the empty spaces. It meant that you would be with me... forever."

"The pain of running relieves the pain of living."

"Sometimes we have to get out of our own way."

"Sometimes the only way to hold on, is to let go."

"Love isn't about holding on. It's about letting go."