Shedding Some Light on My Last Post
I have had some very interesting reactions to my last post about life not being easy and not being fair. I thought I’d share them with you.
The first reaction I received dealt with the .gif of the young girl having a temper tantrum. I was told the picture was very insulting as the person misinterpreted my intention for using it. It was not symbolizing people who live with Dissociative Identity disorder but rather it was intended to represent all humans when we don’t get our way. I apologize if this .gif caused any grief. That certainly was not my intention. In fact, the picture I chose for that piece was very different than the one which showed on my posts to Facebook. The tantrum throwing young girl was actually to display further down in the article, (it does on this site), but for some reason when I posted the article to Facebook it chose her picture instead of my original choice.
The second thing I have met is quite a bit of resistance to the ideas I propose that indeed life is not easy nor is it fair. People have been writing me asking me what in the world understanding these two ideas has to do with recovery. I guess it is to be expected that people who have been traumatized or harmed by others have a hard time accepting that no matter how hard they push back, no matter how much they yell, no matter how much they want retaliation, the world does not owe them a living and nothing, and no one, not even god himself, can erase what happened. It’s over. Done. The only way to go is forward.
My idea in posting this piece was to give hope, but I seem to have hit a very sore nerve. I remember well my anger at my therapist for telling me the facts of life, and I sympathize. Please, just don’t shoot the messenger, okay?
I enjoy very much hearing your comments and even your criticism. It makes me think and reevaluate what I am saying here. Never be afraid to tell me exactly what you think about what I say here. I may get a little bruised, but in the end I know it will make me a better writer and person.
Shirley
Good writing and articles, especially on difficult subject matter, always promote an emotional response. But you were / are right. Life isn’t easy and it can seem unfair at times and that probably relates with everyone.
Recovery is a very personal thing I find, one persons path is not simply just going to suit another persons path. It’s a very hard path, but I firmly believe it can be walked. I enjoyed your articles – thank you for sharing.
Thank you so much. I was surprised by the intensity of the responses I received from this post. I had forgotten just how angry I had felt at Paula when she spoke these truths to me. Life is a very personal journey I was hoping to share the
knowledge though that we all share some very basic human misconceptions about it. Thanks again. Shirley
Interesting, the response you got. I had no problem at all with your post, and your handling of responses to is, as usual, very nicely done!
Thank you Tom. I must have hit a very raw nerve for many. I was shocked to pieces by their response. I received lots of feedback and around half were accusatory in nature. Most thought I was belittling their pasts. Anyway it was a very interesting few days. Thanks again. Shirley