Major Depression is very similar...
http://ursulav.livejournal.com/1541152.html
And as I look into the faces of my cats and as I struggle to imagine my world without them... Oh, I can't finish.
Be loving. Be kind. If it takes magical thinking, do it.
Some time ago, an old acquaintance was attacked via a friend's Facebook post, because the acquaintance wrote a poem about the Boston marathon bomber, questioning the killer's motives, expressing sadness and confusion. The friend had lost her cousin, who was one of the three initial casualties, and was very raw and full of grief and ready to lash out at anything. I don't think she even read the poem - in fact, the only reason the poem got her attention was because it was reported on Fox News and spun as "a love poem to the bomber" when it clearly was not... and my friend, normally gentle and kind, flew into a wild howling rage directed solely toward the poet. I thought it was unnecessary and inappropriate, as I knew the poet and knew her mind. My friend probably never read the poem and thus never realized that the poem was never truly about the bomber and not in any positive or supportive light.
But then I realized that people will have knee jerk reactions to everything without seeking any truth, and I let it go. I let it all go and I became Zen, and I realized that this was humanity, full of emotional power and extremity. And all I could do was handle my own emotional reactions. Even during episodes of mental illness, even during times of grief... it belonged to me and nobody else. And I promised myself that I would not get involved in angry disputes unless I saw someone I knew being blatantly attacked, and then I would merely step in, say good things about the assaulted person, and back away. It is all I can do. If I myself am attacked for my sympathy, it is not on me, and the immaturity of the attackers is not my issue to deal with.
I have realized over the months and years that I cannot do much for anyone who wants to believe specific things that might hurt other people. "This person is horrible because they said this thing I disagree with" or "I hate this person because they are affiliated with that person" or "All these people are the same, and I don't care about the people on the edge of the group who don't share the main beliefs of the group because they still affiliate themselves with the group." Painting entire groups with a single brush is one of my pet peeves, anyway.
I will stop now. I've run out of words there. It doesn't matter.
I have too many books to read, so I'll just keep going with the one I'm in the middle of right now...
And as I look into the faces of my cats and as I struggle to imagine my world without them... Oh, I can't finish.
Be loving. Be kind. If it takes magical thinking, do it.
Some time ago, an old acquaintance was attacked via a friend's Facebook post, because the acquaintance wrote a poem about the Boston marathon bomber, questioning the killer's motives, expressing sadness and confusion. The friend had lost her cousin, who was one of the three initial casualties, and was very raw and full of grief and ready to lash out at anything. I don't think she even read the poem - in fact, the only reason the poem got her attention was because it was reported on Fox News and spun as "a love poem to the bomber" when it clearly was not... and my friend, normally gentle and kind, flew into a wild howling rage directed solely toward the poet. I thought it was unnecessary and inappropriate, as I knew the poet and knew her mind. My friend probably never read the poem and thus never realized that the poem was never truly about the bomber and not in any positive or supportive light.
But then I realized that people will have knee jerk reactions to everything without seeking any truth, and I let it go. I let it all go and I became Zen, and I realized that this was humanity, full of emotional power and extremity. And all I could do was handle my own emotional reactions. Even during episodes of mental illness, even during times of grief... it belonged to me and nobody else. And I promised myself that I would not get involved in angry disputes unless I saw someone I knew being blatantly attacked, and then I would merely step in, say good things about the assaulted person, and back away. It is all I can do. If I myself am attacked for my sympathy, it is not on me, and the immaturity of the attackers is not my issue to deal with.
I have realized over the months and years that I cannot do much for anyone who wants to believe specific things that might hurt other people. "This person is horrible because they said this thing I disagree with" or "I hate this person because they are affiliated with that person" or "All these people are the same, and I don't care about the people on the edge of the group who don't share the main beliefs of the group because they still affiliate themselves with the group." Painting entire groups with a single brush is one of my pet peeves, anyway.
I will stop now. I've run out of words there. It doesn't matter.
I have too many books to read, so I'll just keep going with the one I'm in the middle of right now...