daybreak / I

At times, we experience a blockade in and to, a more satisfying and fulfilling life...it concerns not only those among us who wish to push beyond a vocational void or persons recovering from a loss of self-worth, confidence or despair. It also touches those who walk in search of a deepening spiritual quest.

By impasse I mean that there is no way out, no way around, no rational escape from, what imprisons one, no possibilities in the situation. In a true impasse, every normal of acting is forced to a standstill, and ironically, impasse is experienced not only in the problem itself but also in any solution rationally attempted. Every logical solution remains unsatisfying, at the very least...Any movement out, any next step, is cancelled, and the most dangerous temptation is to give up, to quit, to surrender to cynicism and despair, in the face of disappointment, disenchantment, hopelessness and loss of meaning that encompasses one.


David Tracy: Blessed Rage for Order (1975)