no-man’s-land

The Pema Chödrön Quote

“To be fully alive, fully human, and completely awake is to be continually thrown out of the nest. To live fully is to be always in no-man’s-land, to experience each moment as completely new and fresh.”

One of several quotes shared from her book When Things Fall Apart. It focusses on the idea that living fully means meeting facing uncertainty again and again.

Uncertainty is unavoidable and a part of life. Healing comes not from being able to control what happens, but from staying present with what’s difficult. That’s the common thread across the quotes most associated with her work.

A few themes show up over and over in the quotes linked to her:

• Discomfort as a teacher rather than an enemy,
• Uncertainty as part of being alive,
• Compassion grounded in shared human messiness,
• The idea that spiritual growth is less about “fixing” life than changing your relationship to it.

For an overview of quotes associated Pema Chodron visit her foundation’s official site.

Potential context for being ‘continually thrown out of the birds nest’

1. “Nothing ever goes away until it has taught us what we need to know.”
2. “Letting there be room for not knowing…”
3. Stop trying to make life stop hurting. Stay with it and let the hard parts teach you how to be more kind and more awake.

Have courage, be brave.