tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8975835436255022813.post5237539934965411210..comments2024-03-18T08:17:10.105-04:00Comments on The Irreverent Psychologist: Feeling a little hateful lately?Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00437830556630350204noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8975835436255022813.post-87454739376429817702011-11-23T00:05:33.779-05:002011-11-23T00:05:33.779-05:00Nice to see you outside of Twitter, Debbie. I'...Nice to see you outside of Twitter, Debbie. I'm reminded of Temple Grandin saying that "nature is cruel but we don't have to be." <br /><br />Nature, of course, isn't cruel. It is our human construction of nature that is cruel. Animals do what they need to do to survive. Humans are a much different story. I like to think that's what Temple was getting at. The very essence of what makes us human--having a choice--gives us both the potential of unbelievable cruelty and unbelievable elevation. <br /><br />I hope, in the resignation of realizing there where always be cruelty, this is also the realization that there is always a choice.<br /><br />As for why I didn't wear a tie. Now that would make for a good blog post.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00437830556630350204noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8975835436255022813.post-14689289996564535662011-11-22T23:52:22.042-05:002011-11-22T23:52:22.042-05:00Clare,
Thanks so much for taking the time to wri...Clare, <br /><br />Thanks so much for taking the time to write such a thoughtful comment. Authenticity is, as you said, bloody hard. You said it so beautifully--that a power can come forth out of the shadow. When we recognize the darkness in others is in us, we can learn to make other choices.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00437830556630350204noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8975835436255022813.post-13595784275222568842011-11-22T13:31:06.964-05:002011-11-22T13:31:06.964-05:00Got chills several times as I read your post.
On...Got chills several times as I read your post. <br /><br />One of the ironies I find in the ways that we big brained primates respond to others is that we rarely take advantage of what our big brain allows us to do- self-reflect. <br /><br />Exerting control, inflicting pain and behaving aggressively can be rewarding to us. In some situations these behaviors might save our lives. But far too often they are not tactics we need to employ to ensure our survival (though we seem easily led to believe this to be the case). <br /><br />There is no shortage in history, both past and the history being created today, of people who were able to perpetrate seemingly unimaginable cruelties on others with little hesitation. I for one feel resigned to this fact. <br /><br />Instead of pondering the horror and sadness of this I'd really rather hear why you didn't wear a tie.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8975835436255022813.post-86041491996057854772011-11-22T08:55:56.808-05:002011-11-22T08:55:56.808-05:00Thank you for this important post. I usually gag w...Thank you for this important post. I usually gag when someone writes "I am crying as I write this," because it sounds so twee. But actually, I am crying. In the past few weeks I've felt diminished and made hopeless by what's happening in the world, having had my nose rubbed in it by the attacks on Occupy movements and some of the commentary on it.<br /><br />I know that cop won't be treated in the same way that a mentally ill person who might pepper spray people waiting at a bus stop will be treated, because cops are never properly sanctioned.<br /><br />I know Thich Quang Duc and Tank Man made incredible statements that changed nothing.<br /><br />I believe I see resignation in the two nameless boys, and part of me resonates with that. Their miserable ordeal is coming to an end. <br /><br />I remember, too, that Dr King was murdered and that for too many of us his life has been reduced to Inspirational Comments. <br /><br />Was it Goethe who said something like "There is no act so vile that I cannot imagine myself repeating it"? This has been a touchstone for me: I am as capable as General Nguyễn Ngọc Loan and Lt. John Pike of gross abuse of power, as is everyone else. Given the right circumstances all of us will perform disgusting acts. That gives me a small but vital life ring to hold on to in these increasingly stormy seas. And God knows, it getting more difficult to hold on to. Being empathic with what seems like endless abuse is exhausting.<br /><br />My Shadow is a place of power, at first glance a shrieking, lunatic place but a little deeper there is strength, capacity, stillness, a kind of truth. I retreat there for peace and authenticity. Saying that I could never do what the torturer does, I simply can't imagine what makes a person put on a uniform and attack other people, is a lie. Is inauthentic.<br /><br />Authenticity is bloody hard work and often painful. But life is richer, more thoughtful with it, and hopefully it is a path to wisdom.<br /><br />Thanks once more.Clare Slaneyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14937627339653914404noreply@blogger.com