Everyone grieves, not once, not twice, simply throughout their lives. Some even claim to be sadder now, that is, in autumn. So let me ask you straight away: what exactly is sadness? The answer that springs to mind first is that it is an emotion with which we react to the negative aspects of our lives. After a moment's reflection, I would also add that it is an intrinsic part of our lives. And when I think about it further, I don't really know what it is any more.
Nor am I able to imagine a human life in which there would be no sadness. I am reminded of a poem by my favourite poet, Father Jan Twardowski, who writes in his Ode to Despair: "and yet without you/ I would be constantly smiling like a piglet in the rain". If sadness never existed, of course no one would long for it. However, if it were suddenly missing? Wouldn't you feel tired of constant joy?
Perhaps there will be someone who can answer this question in the affirmative. Personally, I would vividly deny it, and this is because I am a melancholic, and a very sensitive one at that. So it turns out that, as usual, a lot depends on personality. Coming back down to earth, in case you need a reminder: sadness does exist and it is lurking for us this autumn. It probably won't be chased away by vitamin C, infallible in the case of a cold. However, there are countless ways to chase it away. Which one do I recommend? A good, atmospheric book, read under a warm blanket.
Sometimes it happens that no book, no film, no pleasure can chase away sadness. One grieves more and more, until finally one does not stop at all. From here, it is a very simple path to the illness called depression (nowadays already called a disease of civilisation). Unfortunately, in such a case, one has to go on a very long journey called treatment. It is in such cases that this "unhealthy" sadness is often referred to.
Since there is a dark side, there must also be a light side to this coin. What can be called healthy sadness? I think a short cry to relieve nerves, or a moment just needed for oneself to feel a bit down about one's fate. No matter what else we might list, the most important difference is that healthy sad ness does not go right through us to the bone, does not fill us up to the point where we not only want to die, but to cease to exist at all. Healthy sadness comes for a moment, like a moment's breath, like rain on a warm day. It comes to then leave, not to destroy us. The only problem that remains is how to recognise which sadness is affecting us? I don't think I can answer that any more.
By now I think everyone will agree with me that we all need sadness. I am reminded of a phrase I once heard, which says that "the most beautiful works of art were created out of sadness". This proves that sadness does not have to be immediately linked to destruction. It could even be used appropriately, just by putting that healthy sadness to work. Either way, sadness is in our blood and it doesn't look like anything is going to change. Therefore, instead of fighting it all the time, for our own sake, let's once again try to accept it.
