Like all the rest of us, I’ve got a pretty diverse family background. Both historical and modern characters range from mystical and holy to so damaged that they became hands-down evil to those unlucky enough to live in their realms. (Thankfully this latter group has mostly died out or had their worst instincts blunted by the advent of institutions like Child Protective Services, though the damage they caused can still be clearly seen and felt.) Some of the really stellar people, especially if they happened to have been women, don’t have their greatness recognized until much time and reflection later.
Pieces of these characteristics get either passed down or ignored in strange ways. Mystical mothers do not necessarily beget mystical sons, and fathers who seem filled with evil do not always beget abusive daughters. It’s all so much more complicated than that. We think we’re patchwork quilts, but really we’re a million moving pixels arranged “just so,” always on a slow, lava lamp-like move with an occasional earthquake jolt to scramble things up a bit and make life more exciting, or more terrifying. The possible results of those combinations may seem endless, but they’re probably a lot less surprising than you’d think.
I’ve been thinking about my own family a lot over the past few days. My therapist recommended I see someone called a “psycho-traumatologist.” She says their job is to uncover any hidden trauma in my past that is affecting me now (and she apparently highly expects there’s quite a lot to be dug up). It’s a short treatment, and patients she’s referred, she says, have shown remarkable improvement after the 3-4 typical treatment sessions they go through.
To be honest, I feel a little embarrassed to admit I’m spending money on this. With so many problems in the world, going to such great lengths to “fix myself” feels ridiculously indulgent. What combination of early experiences and subconscious messages planted that belief in me, eh? It calls to mind my friend and department coordinator where I taught high school for a few years doing her best thickly-accented Frued impression: “Tell me about your mother…”
Two days ago I had my first “evaluation,” as it’s possible they’ll determine that I, in fact, do not have any significant trauma that needs to be unearthed and dissolved.
My reaction to the beginning of it, though, I think says it all. The evaluator was very kind, and not at all threatening. But I thought my therapist would be there (it was in her office), and she was not, and I was unexpectedly alone in a closed space with a strange man, something that has always scared me on a primitive level and that I have often actively sought to avoid. Where does this fear come from? Sure, I’ve had my butt grabbed on the street a few times, but I’ve mercifully never had to endure the horrors of rape or physical assault.
My own unprofessional conclusion is that my mother’s scars somehow got embedded under my own skin, making me jumpy and untrusting as a result of the knowledge of how much damage can be done; I grew up with a front-row seat to that damage and its resulting long-tailed sorrows. She did have to endure those things, throughout her entire childhood, and if that doesn’t really, really mess someone up, I don’t know what will. I also know that if she were alive today, she’d let out the most painful and heartfelt howl if she thought that her own experiences had damaged me in some way. So much of her intentional parenting, after all, was focused on keeping us safe from the monsters she knew for a fact could lurk in any human heart.
She was always in pain, but she was always so kind. How did this happen? Her parents were monsters, but she must have had angels somewhere that managed to get to her beautiful heart first (I feel pretty sure my namesake, her grandmother Sarah, was a primary one).
Because of the abuse, she mostly kept us away from her family. My sister and I don’t know many on that side very well. Heroes and villains of the past have been lost to memory. We’ll all be forgotten eventually, but damn if those shreds of what was don’t get passed down. “Look, you just made apes with anxiety!” an exasperated angel complains to God in a cartoon.
I like to think of myself as staying “above the fray,” a notion I recognize as a laughably unachievable solution. Taking a global view has its merits, but there’s a tendency — at least in me — for that global view to erase the importance of the individual. Yes, I’m special. But so is everyone else. So if everyone is special, how can anyone be special? And if none of us are, then we’d do good to stop engaging in so much naval gazing and embrace our dependence on one another and the joy that that can bring. I’m a sociologist, not a psychologist. I’m concerned with the big picture. So what right do I have to over-value myself, just one little tiny portrait?
But take the mirror down, and my delusion is exposed. Is my daughter special, and deserve every advantage that I can possibly give her? Oh, no need to even ask. My partner? Definitely. My sister? The list goes on, and recognizing these important people in my life and how much they matter makes my thesis crumble to the ground. I know my blind spot, I just can’t focus on it because it’s, you know, a blind spot.
My therapist has repeated to me often: “The message you give yourself is, ‘I’m not worthy;’ but why do you think that? You’re very worthy.”
Let’s just see what the psycho-traumatologist has to say about that.
Sarah, regardless of anything else, always remember that you are a very worthy person. You are here for a reason.I am not a professional, but, I, too am a person who had to come to that realization in my lifetime. I’m sure many others have as well. The journey may not be easy, but, it is worth it every step of the way. I hope you will “just keep walking”. Sending hugs and kisses with love.Brenda Z
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Thank you, Brenda, for your kind words. ❤
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I have, over the years, come to have a real respect ( and need) for transparency.
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div>It is the beginning , it brings us to the healing power we have with
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Totally agree…it helps that I feel it’s basically physically impossible for me to keep secrets, haha, but I think that’s for a reason. As my partner often says, “the truth always comes out sooner or later, and when it does, the intentions of everyone will be clear.”
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Lovely piece, Sarah. Thanks, and good luck.
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Thank you so much, Michael. ❤ I'm glad you liked it!
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Sarah, about your 4 articles in February 2023… (loved them, by the way)
1. Addresses. Most important is house number and “between streets” line. Colonia often has norte, sur etc. after which is also important.
2. Water. Free drinking water from air conditioning condesate. Coffee filter capture and release hose ends. Run into securely capped 5-litre bottle. This is potable water. You still will pay for undrinkable tap water.
3. Gas. Get rid of gas-fed water heater with draining pilot light. Buy standard 3/4″ garden hose and snake on a sun-facing roof (if you live in a casita as I do). Attach to your hot water line. Three 75-ft hoses should give you 7-10 minutes of a really hot shower (from 10:30AM – 2:30PM).
4. Can’t remember your fourth effort. I’ll add when I re-read.
I don’t subscribe to Mexico Daily News but have found a way to receive it anyway. I’ll keep that a secret — but you’re the reason for an actual paid subscription. That’s a plug. Keep it up!
Guy
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Great tips! I feel silly admitting this, but *I* pay for a subscription, ha! It predated my time writing there, and it never occurred to me to cancel it or to say “hey, no sean gachos” hahaha
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4. You spoke about everyday safety. At night, always carry a small vial of pepper spray in your hand. Used to be sold almost everywhere but now sold only at car parts distributors like Auto Zone. A great psychological boost for unlit streets.
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I have a friend who does that, and she says it’s completely changed her confidence out on the street. Before, she would take a taxi even to go 6 blocks!
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I’ve never been able to take it with me on a flight to Mexico
Good to know I can get it at Auto Zone..thanks
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