Thank you for this, a good reminder to me of what shame is for people who feel it. It’s not my primary or even secondary emotion for me--I’m candid to a fault and struggle to understand what it means to want to disappear. I’m surrounded by people who efface themselves rather than express themselves. It’s hard for me to wrap my head around. As a contrast, for me there’s pity, which is different, isn’t it, because it radiates out rather than in. I’m not a narcissist but I am not self-conscious, I don’t think. Most of the time I have to remind myself that I might be embarrassing myself or people around me by whatever stupid behavior I’m doing. For my poems I think this leads to a kind of word vomit rather than a compression, and I have to force myself to shave off the extra.
Heavy. (I almost wrote "prrofound", then worried I'd sound simple). To name and place this shame struggle, that everyone's locked in, in a historic and artistic tradition. is beautiful. And there are so many lines and images in this dispatch that are poetic or maybe I mean suggestions about what life is that I will remember.
Thought provoking & fascinating. I can relate to shame & the yearning to be lovable. I appreciate the contemplation on self/hidden self or unconditioned/conditioned self. I find the same awareness and pairing of these two in the poems last Thurs.
Thank you for this, a good reminder to me of what shame is for people who feel it. It’s not my primary or even secondary emotion for me--I’m candid to a fault and struggle to understand what it means to want to disappear. I’m surrounded by people who efface themselves rather than express themselves. It’s hard for me to wrap my head around. As a contrast, for me there’s pity, which is different, isn’t it, because it radiates out rather than in. I’m not a narcissist but I am not self-conscious, I don’t think. Most of the time I have to remind myself that I might be embarrassing myself or people around me by whatever stupid behavior I’m doing. For my poems I think this leads to a kind of word vomit rather than a compression, and I have to force myself to shave off the extra.
This is great, thank you!
Heavy. (I almost wrote "prrofound", then worried I'd sound simple). To name and place this shame struggle, that everyone's locked in, in a historic and artistic tradition. is beautiful. And there are so many lines and images in this dispatch that are poetic or maybe I mean suggestions about what life is that I will remember.
Thought provoking & fascinating. I can relate to shame & the yearning to be lovable. I appreciate the contemplation on self/hidden self or unconditioned/conditioned self. I find the same awareness and pairing of these two in the poems last Thurs.
Thanks, Sean. This is helpful.
Thanks for this. I often use shame as a source for poetry. Here is an example: https://maistvanjr.substack.com/p/the-printout-round-2