#Sociology has a pain "problem." We use concepts like (collective or cultural)#trauma draw allusions to pain, but do not ground them in the fundamental experience of rejection, exclusion, isolation, etc. This paper does this while theorizing SOCIAL trauma. When we understand the science behind social pain, or the neg. affectual response to rejection and exclusion, we can collapse the distinctions btw cultural and collective trauma.
Through deeply personal conversations, Oprah Winfrey and renowned brain and trauma expert Dr. Bruce Perry offer a groundbreaking and profound shift from asking "What's wrong with you?" to "What happened to you?"
"Through this lens we can build a renewed sense of personal self-worth and ultimately recalibrate our responses to circumstances, situations, and relationships. It is, in other words, the key to reshaping our very lives."
Oprah Winfrey
The nice thing about digital art is it never has to be finished. On this one I got too deep into the image. There's a lot going on you can't see cuz the midtones are too dark...
The non-gendered warrior SHOULD be creating themself (to coin language) out of and battling dark chaos, a bright spark headed toward a dim light... they never know if there's a goal...
"#Poverty does not breed nobility of character. Or humility. It just breeds hunger of body & soul.
#Trauma does not breed compassion. Just pain. And the spreading of pain.
#Disability does not secretly empower you with courage & persistence. It just limits what you can do.
Toxic Positivity is a modern cultural plague. It just keeps you buying stuff. And working harder and harder... to buy more stuff.
Religion for consumers.
This kind of positivity is not spiritual. Or uplifting. Just one more yardstick measuring my failures. Inspiring movie by inspiring movie.
What doesn't kill you? Does NOT make you stronger. Not often enough. It just doesn't kill you. Breath after breath... after breath.
The difference between Strength and Misery?
Not a choice. But it is very real.
Honor it.
This is a raw, unfiltered truth. Many of us who are autistic... live it. But we don't talk about it.. much. At least not out loud. Not with typical folks. Not among other neurodivergents, either. Maybe not even to ourselves.
I don't know about you. But I mask a secret shame in colors of anger, resentment, regret.
Why? TV, Hollywood, the damn New York Times Best sellers list...? Together, media create our social mythology. Championing only the lifestyles of effective people. Ya know, folks who turn out tons of widgets. And consume mass quantities while flicking screens...."
@bookstodon What a great little book! Lots of stuff going on so the reader needs to pay attention - #trauma, guilt, alternate realities, identity loss, cross-cultural relationships, monetizing grief and loss, #whiteguilt, and people and feelings that disappear in the furrows. Recommend it.
Fewer words are sweeter than "your manuscript has been accepted." My theory of social trauma - integrating collective and cultural #trauma processes and grounding them in the neurophysiology of social pain - will soon see the light of day in #Society and #mentalhealth#sociology
Do you know someone amongst your followers who might benefit from starting a meditation practice? Boost this post now. I normally don’t give courses for free, so grab this unique chance today before it’s too late. Details here: https://go.cosmicnation.co/JMfree
#CfP for the #panel "Saying the Unsayable: #Narrative Experimentations in the Representation of #trauma", which will take place at the Northeast Modern Languages Association (#NeMLA#northeastMLA) convention in Boston on March 7-10, 2024.
Lyft driver last night decided to tell me his life story. The guy was more than a bit unhinged, so I just let him talk.
Veteran, tours in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Starts talking about his domestic violence towards his ex-wife and children, laughing about how he had only jokingly threatened to break his children's legs, and when he stabbed his wife in the arm with a wire, it wasn't really a stabbing.
"I told the judge, if I had wanted to stab her, she'd be dead."
Complains in great detail about all the money she took from him, his prison time for the assault, and describes with glee hiding his assets in his vintage car. "New chrome, new hood, new tires - bitch wasn't gonna see that money!"
Continues on about how his new girl came from Iraq and knows what a war zone is like. Brags that he'll send her back if she doesn't marry him. Turns out he's never seen her in person, but has sent her over $7k through some online hookup site that charges per message. Goes off on how he helped her move from Canada to Chicago (we're in California), and complains about how each time he sends her money to come out west, she never shows up.
"I've bought the tux, the wedding dress - it's all ready to go - it's that or Iraq."
Note that all of this was punctuated with constant bouts of chuckling and provided completely unprompted - I said maybe three words the entire trip.
Why do I relate this story? First, it was watching bad karma in action, both the fuck around and find out phases wrapped up in a tidy taxi ride.
But I found myself wondering what he was like as a child... he was clearly struggling in the smarts department, but he had a natural friendliness that belied the horrible shit coming out of his mouth. It got me thinking to what this guy might have been like had the army not put a gun in his hand and sent him overseas to kill. He was in his forties, but his mind was that of a violent teenager - almost as if it had been frozen at the point in time when he was deployed.
I speak about this because I've seen the same pattern in other vets I've known, including some I went to high school with (1st Gulf War vets). Something gets permanently broken in them, keeping them in a state of constant angry adolescence that takes childish glee in abuse, cruelty and savagery as a way to normalize their experience.
And then they come home, leaving a trail of destruction in their wake as they try to integrate to a peacetime existence, unable to grow up, Peter Pan with a gun in hand.
I wish someone had made this clear to my friends who joined up. There's more than one of them who's too dangerous to be a friend to now.
I hope other #autists find the following statement validating and righteous-anger-inducing rather than invalidating because it's meant to be the former:
#Alexithymia is not developed by autists due to their #autism. Alexithymia is developed by autists because #neurotypicals continuously invalidate our #emotions until we become utterly confused by them and incapable of expressing (or even of knowing) anything about them.
The #trauma that our society heaps upon autists is the cause of autistic alexithymia, and we really need to talk more about how "normal" people psychologically fuck us.