My Therapist Told Me To Go Read About Schopenhaur’s Porcupines Which This Allegory About Human Intimacy

my therapist told me to go read about schopenhaur’s porcupines which this allegory about human intimacy and specifically about how painful it can be to feel to share something together with another human being.

the story is this group of porcupines bracing a winter storm begin to huddle for warmth, but the closer they get the more their quills dig into each other. until separation would have caused them less pain than sticking together.

A few years ago I may have interpreted this as the need to cut toxicity from your life. But today I think it’s actually about the pain and vulnerability of asking for help and relying on others; the difficulties of choosing empathy, choosing to help carry a part of someone else’s struggles even when it hurts you.

While suffering alone may have hurt less for the porcupines, together they are able to survive.