Sunday, August 21, 2011
AA In Boston
Sunday, July 24, 2011
What a Week
Saturday, July 16, 2011
I'm Getting It
External | How do I value myself currently? | |
Achievement | Ability to succeed in an occupation that is outwardly challenging and commands respect, and that causes more anxiety and pain than the occupations of others. | |
Family | Putting in time doing family things like mowing lawn, cleaning, watching kid. Performing acts that I anticipate others want me to peform, and that I find difficult | |
Financial Freedom | Making over 100k | |
Productivity | ability to compulsively deliver "products" on very little rest. Work, home, writing | |
Security | Approval of family and work, no challenges, mental control, no anxieties or anger, no sadness, no thoughts I don't want to have | |
Health | No negative feelings no blood sugar issues no gerd, no anxiety | |
Time freedom | Never mention my need for free time | |
Reliability | Emotional perfection -- no anxiety/anger, no fear, no doubt, no pain |
Person | Events that caused the feelings | Feelings still harbored | Beliefs that support these feelings (all external values for the most part) |
Stepfather | Abuse and belittling throughout my childhood. Specifically spanking with kite rod, and interrogation techniques revolving around rhetorical questions | Fear, shame, hatred (him and me), rage | 1. You must be perfect and never have bad feelings or behavior 2. You must never be angry or you will probably lose your sanity 3. The world will judge you harshly so you had better be perfect. 4. You are a powerless victim who can’t protect or defend yourself |
Wife | Our fights, her chronic discontentment | Sadness, shame, feelings of failure | 5. Other people can’t be trusted, they will hurt you if they can 6. If other people are disappointed in you they will destroy you 7. It is your responsibility to protect yourself by controlling the feelings of others. Nobody else is allowed to feel bad |
Mom | Her failure to protect me. Her failure to listen to me. She never listened to what I had to say, and I was afraid to tell her | Sadness, loneliness, isolation | 8. It’s not okay to have feelings because nobody will listen to you and it only annoys them and drives them away. |
God | Didn’t protect me from stepfather or that crazy church. Let me be an addict and alcoholic | Sadness, loneliness, powerlessness, rage | 9. Even God doesn’t like me, because he’s a judgmental prick 10. The world (God) owes me complete satisfaction for the things I suffered in my childhood. If I don’t get complete satisfaction it makes me angry |
Brother | Became a second parent and always criticized me, relentlessly | Rage, loneliness, shame, sorrow | 11. Even those closest to you still think there’s something wrong or defective about you. |
Church | Talk of demons, hell, sin, god’s judgment, man’s unworthiness, | Fear, shame, sorrow | 12. You are a danger to yourself because you have the debil in you 13. You must be careful around others because their feelings will contaminate you 14. Sanity and salvation are the same thing. Sanity and dark emotions are incompatible because you may open yourself up to eternal disconnection from God |
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Sequels
Emotions
Saturday, October 23, 2010
High School Football
My wife and I answered the questions as well as we could; little man sat on my wife's lap. A large African-American woman sat in front of us, cheering on her son. When she shifted in hers seat she emitted a rather nauseating stench. Behind us a trio of high-school girls, big, and rubbery, and outrageously awkward, were fighting over a paper basket of French fries. The game was 26-0 in favor of the home team, so naturally I began to root for the visitors, who could not advance the ball on offense to save their lives. The only play which worked for them was a draw or trap to the fullback, a powerful brute who shed would-be tacklers with a twitch of his shoulders -- but alas, he was not fast enough to evade the fleet defensive backs who dove at his feet, and tripped him up. He went down under a pile of yellow jerseys. When the visitors were on defense, they had a cornerback with skills -- he had one interception, and another near-pick. Other than that, the home team dominated to such a degree that eve the fans around us seemed bored.
Perhaps were were all taking our cue from the cheerleaders, who showed little interest in pep, or rallying. They talked amongst themselves, or did impromptu dances. When a player was slow getting up, they sat down and crossed their fingers to indicate their good wishes but then they were screened from the field by the backs of the football team, and they often remained sitting on the track long after the injured player had gone back to the sideline. The few cheers they did crank out were ragged, and uninspiring. The dancing girls in their black leotards were not much better. They repeated a rump-shaker routine which involved one hand behind the head and the hips thrusting outward. They spent long stretches socializing with each other, and with the boys who packed the front rows of the bleachers. Only when the band came back did the game take on a real football atmosphere. The drummers were vigorous, and enthusiastic, and the horns blared, and the people in the crowd swayed or clapped along. Even the cheerleaders and dancers were roused from their listlessness, and began to move crisply. A large dark girl whose body was perfectly square, like a Lego character, did a tumbling routine down the track and finished by pointing at the band, as if to direct the crowd's adulation to the proper object.
My wife gave out son a ring pop. He wriggled his little finger into the plastic hoop, and popped the blue candy diamond into his mouth. The stream of questions was interrupted while he got his sucker warmed up. The woman next to us pointed out her son, a defensive end on the home team. I watched him rush the passer and get turned away by a massive tackle from the visitors. He was too slight to play defensive end.
Finally, in the fourth quarter, the visiting team kicked a field goal, and so avoided a shutout. We left soon after to avoid the traffic. I could see that ring of light sinking below the trees in my rearview mirror. My son, when asked what he liked about the football game, said, "I liked all of it about it."
Monday, October 4, 2010
Within My Heart
Yes, it's true. He's in there. It's rather unpleasant, actually, and was quite a shock the first time the x-rays indicated some guppy-like presence within my chambers, swimming about. An ultrasound made visible a robe and a staff, and a long dirty beard, and showed this tiny creature gesturing as if in the middle of a sermon.
Nobody is sure what to do. Surgery has been suggested but the risks are too great. He apparently draws nourishment from my blood through some gill-like system, so any attempts to starve him out, or to poison him, might prove fatal for the host.