Monday, March 05, 2007

Splintered

It's been 4 years. 4 years and I'm still the loser I was when I began. No progress there.
I have found a convenient dichotomy - the basis for my current 'framework for living.' It scares me. No, not 'multiple personalities' but just the way that a deliberately self-deluded person finds it necessarily to continue deluding himself in order to keep going. Here goes:
1) Happy me - the eternal optimist, appreciates things 'for what they are' (whatever that means).
2) Sad me - can't let go, clings to the past, constantly preparing for the worst, siege mentality, loner, trusts nobody
3) Kind me - would give selflessly in the name of charity, sees all people as worthy of being loved no matter what
4) Cruel me - sheer survival instincts applied even to daily living in blips of paranoia, vengeful and suspicious

The way in which it's possible to skip between the different extremes (usually in response to external stimuli) can be terrifying. You split yourself so much that you lose sight of what "the real you" actually is, so when people want to get to know "the real you" they see only a facetious lump whose attempts to modulate his accent are a symptom merely reflective of the deeper schisms within. Jekyll and Hyde, but not as grand. I don't even try to 'suppress' things; I merely attempt to behave as dispassionately as possible. I am becoming a drone, an automaton as far as emotions go. It's true to some extent - you can numb yourself to the outside world as a defense mechanism - and compared to many other people, I haven't even been as exposed to horrors that would make such a response more legitimate. In that case, it'll be interesting when the puddles of inconvenience become pools of adversity...

3 comments:

Hugh said...

Sometimes I feel splintered too. Especially when I give my motives more thought. It is mostly the struggle between Godliness and selfishness in my life. You probably knew that already though!

Anonymous said...

most people have multiple sides to them. the ones who are one dimensional have not experienced life to the full. we need different personalities to deal with the diverse range of joy, suffering and surprises this world throws us. nobody knows what goes behind closed doors, and the only people who will ever truly know you are yourself and God. if you manage to find a third, you are very very lucky.

Anonymous said...

the last comment was from cherie