How do you understand this statement?

Question

"Its only when I stop caring that I have stopped caring that I can begin to care again."

I read this one on vinecrawler.com and it really made me think...

What do you think this person means?

Answer 1

He stopped caring originally to protect himself emotionally, to put a wall between himself and the pain he sees in the world or the pain he has felt. To put up such a wall requires a very dramatic reversal of the emotions that are instinctive in us all. And it likewise requires us to de-personalize ourselves.

What he is saying is that only when he no longer is afraid of feeling again or afraid of being hurt can he start to feel human again. To let down his defenses, so to speak.

(I'm pretty sure this was how I intended this minimalist phrase to translate when I originally came up with it. It has been borrowed and altered but still sounds like it is probably mine originally. I posted twenty of these musings, including this one, on the messege boards during Project Greenlight about four years ago. Funny how things get around, huh?

Here are a few more of my 'Minimalist Musings' that came from my postings on the old Greenlight site:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Ah1GUcB.PGumZWgwa6GFZdrty6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20070918183225AAuM16r

Answer 2

The statement employs the word "care" in two distinct ways, I think, and so the second two "care"s can almost be replaced by any other verb such as:

It is only when I stop caring that I have stopped eating that I can begin to eat again.

which I think is easier to understand. So here you see that the person is worried that they have stopped eating, but the worry is what keeps them from eating.

I could be wrong -- pretty tricky question!

Answer 3

I cannot say what the person meant, but to me it speaks when they stopped wasting time on worrying about whether or not they were caring, they were free to start caring. That is, when they stopped caring about their own lacking and short comings (self centered) they were free to start caring about those around them.

Or taken in a more ‘enlightenment’ philosophy it could mean, that when we stop defining what it is meant to be caring, we stop doing things simply so we can say (even to ourselves) that we are caring, and can then we can do things for no other reason than we care. (Which is how I would usually understanding it, but there is a bit of the tun wu in me)

Answer 4

When you don't care you're not caring, you care....not a lot helpful but thats the only wording I got.

Answer 5

I think it means people get lost in thought, they will originally come back to their original answer, no matter how many twists and turn they make. It's like saying that three lefts make a right.

Answer 6

the act of caring whether you care or not has stopped the ability to care. ..... my opinion anyway....

Answer 7

Anxiety can interfere with empathy. We can analyze ourselves into an unproductive corner. Better counselors are self-released and free. Jesus Christ is the way to true and lasting freedom.