Who I am.

I write about the landscape of grief, nature, and the wisdom of fools. The author of four books, my essays, poems, and reviews have been published in over 50 journals, including in the Huffington Post and Colorado Review. I’ve won the River Teeth Nonfiction Book Award, the Chautauqua and Literal Latte’s essay prizes, and my work has been nominated for four Pushcart Prizes and named a notable by Best American Essays. My account of hiking in Yosemite to deal with my wife’s death, Mountains of Light, was published by the University of Nebraska Press. http://www.markliebenow.com.

Showing posts with label Nietzsche. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nietzsche. Show all posts

Wednesday, November 3, 2021

Finding a Why to Live

 


          Those who have a ‘why’ to live, can bear with almost any ‘how.’ Nietzsche

 

            Nietzsche gets down to the brass tacks for grievers. When someone central to our life dies, and it feels like there is nothing left, we need to find a why to want to continue on. We can continue to breathe, eat, and sleep for a long time, lumbering like a zombie through our days, but to feel zest and energy for life again, we need to find something that makes us eager to get out of bed in the morning.

 

            Creating new dreams without our loved one in it is daunting.

 

Monday, January 22, 2018

Zen Nietzsche


My essay at Elephant Journal

As Gary Larson said, it’s not the Bluebird of Happiness that’s flapped into my life, but the Chicken of Depression. Grief led me up the steep switchbacks to the top of a Sierra Nevada mountain where the wind blows over a stone land scrimshawed with snow.

https://www.elephantjournal.com/2018/01/a-graceful-example-of-getting-through-lifes-sorrows/