Auribus teneo lupum

 

Photo by davide ragusa on Unsplash

 

Auribus teneo lupum or “holding a wolf by the ears"  is a line taken from Terence's work Phormio (c. 161 BCE) and was a popular proverb in Ancient Rome. It is used to describe an unsustainable situation, similar to "holding a tiger by the tail," and in particular one in which both doing nothing and doing something to resolve it are equally risky.

 

I wanted to briefly explain why each of my blog entries bears a Latin title. While Latin is often dismissed as a dead language, heard only in the realms of classical studies or academic tradition, I wanted to revive its presence in a more personal, creative space. Each phrase I choose carries layered meaning—not only in its historical context, but also in how it reflects the emotional or thematic thread of the post.

I usually begin with the Latin. I find a word or phrase that captures a mood or idea I want to explore, and let my thoughts unfold from there. These entries are rarely polished or meticulously planned—they are stream-of-consciousness reflections, more for me than for anyone else. Still, I believe that our individual thoughts and feelings often echo others’ in ways we never realise. Sitting next to someone on a train or bus, we forget that they’ve likely felt what we’re feeling now. We’re all searching for connection, even if we don’t always know it.

Push yourself

As a child, I was painfully shy. I spoke only to a few close friends, kept my head down, and spent much of my time alone—lost in the elaborate inner worlds I created. Those worlds have grown with me, and I still find comfort in them. The real world, to me, will always seem a little too harsh, too loud, too flawed. But I also realised that if I stayed hidden within those imagined spaces, I would never truly grow.

Pushing yourself outside of your comfort zone is terrifying, yet necessary. I didn’t want to become stagnant or bitter. Without change—even small, incremental change—we begin to wither. I may have been a wallflower for much of my life, but I refuse to be a wilted flower.

That kind of personal growth is a battle—sometimes daily. A battle between the self that craves connection and spontaneity, and the self that clings to solitude and logic. The Latin phrase at the heart of this entry captures that very tension: a standstill where either action or inaction feels perilous. But it’s through these internal struggles that we grow. Over the years, I’ve pushed myself into spaces that require extroversion, warmth, vulnerability—even when my more reserved side fights back. What once felt like a battle of personalities now feels like balance. There’s no need to define yourself as one or the other. You can be both—or neither—depending on the moment.

Trust yourself

At the end of the day, it’s just you and yourself. And that’s who you need to learn to trust. There will be days when emotions rise like waves—confusing, overwhelming, uninvited. There will be nights when your mind replays old mistakes like a scratched record. But if you pause and listen, there’s another voice: calm, steady, and kind. Learn to hear it. Learn to trust it.

We place ourselves in boxes far too often. Introvert or extrovert. Logical or emotional. But our identities are more fluid than that. Maybe one side is louder than the other, but both are always there, waiting to be acknowledged. Spend time with yourself. Make peace with the chaos. Don’t be afraid of strong emotions. Don’t be ashamed when they feel like too much. Everything passes—joy, sorrow, anxiety, clarity. The only thing that remains is you.

Perhaps F. Scott Fitzgerald captured it best in The Great Gatsby:
“So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”

It’s a line open to endless interpretation, but for me, two words always come to mind: perseverance and idealism. Paradoxical in nature, yet deeply intertwined. To strive, endlessly, for something just out of reach—even when the odds are against you—is not foolish. It’s human. And maybe that’s where greatness lies.