"Depression is the flaw of love"

Written so poetically by Andrew Solomon in 'The Noonday Demon, An Atlas of Depression' and read so eloquently by Paul Holdengraber of LIVE from the New York Public Library, an evening of Einstein's God was more than powerful.

Andrew Solomon, in conversation with Krista Tippett, depicts the world of depression so beautifully, if you can imagine this subject to be beautiful. I suppose what is to come out of any depression is where the beauty may lie.

It seemed that the evening connected its audience members by the overwhelming familiarity and closeness to the words being spoken. This sense of community felt very real as we nodded our heads in recognition of emotions so eloquently translated into words we all at one point scrambled to find. And here, two compelling authors, speaking openly about their own experiences of depression with such refined dignity and grace.

Sometimes you can feel as hollow and isolated as these window panes. Trying to peer through, look beyond the imminent darkness that is in front of your face, but seeing nothing. A vast pool of hopelessness. I think, or maybe I'd like to believe due to my own selfishness, that most people experience this empty corridor at one point or another in time, in life. I think it helps to know the uniqueness of the feeling of being in that empty corridor is not in fact unique. Perhaps that makes the feeling worse. I can say, however, there is always lightness to the darkness, a love for the loss and a whole bunch of people who feel exactly as you do. Beauty is all around us, we just need to open our eyes and see it. Albert Einstein said it best, "the most appropriate response to life is sacred awe".