Today, it is eminently possible to follow the news about anything and everything, everywhere, at any time. In an instant, we can know when there is a natural or man-made disaster across the globe from where we are, or we can follow the inane, moment to moment tweets of a celebrity, politician or a friend traveling the world. We are exposed by cameras hidden in our IPhones and by the pictures and videos that can be spread around on YouTube literally like a virus. There are websites made in heaven (or hell) for both voyeurs and exhibitionists of any persuasion, and there are forums for voicing opinions (endlessly) on subjects both boringly mundane or exquisitely obscure.
All of this exposure of ourselves to ourselves can give one the impression that the world is really devolving. Corruption and deceit on such grand scales, wanton greed, violence, racism, sexism, homophobia, xenophobia... all seem rampant these days. The "captains of industry" seem more like drunken sailors on permanent shore leave than clever capitalists, while our political and religious leaders seem to be either in some kind of hypnotic stupor or maybe just downright demented, rather than the "best and the brightest."
Yet, I am reminded when considering the above of how the process of healing takes place on an individual basis in therapy. Very often when a patient starts really making progress and breaking through the confines of their character structures, things feel worse. The old festered emotions, suppressed since early childhood, begin emerging as a result of the breakthroughs. And along with the painful feelings come the traumatic memories and associations that inspired the suppression in the first place. As this congestion of thoughts and feelings is undone, the "infection" starts to comes out, and as anyone who's ever had the flu knows, when it starts breaking up and the globs of goo start releasing, it can get ugly.
So, maybe that explains a lot of what we're seeing lately, from Scott Brown to Glenn Beck, from Tea Baggers to Orly Taitz, and of course, everything on the free, public, lunatic asylum known as the Craigslist Political Forum!
Maybe it's all just snot!!
No comments:
Post a Comment