La versión en español está después de la versión en inglés.
I continue to see articles about the long-term effects of childhood verbal abuse. I’ve always felt guilty about talking about my challenges after all these years. So, articles like this recent one from The Guardian newspaper (click here) can be reassuring.
I had a regular check-in with my doctor this morning. I hadn’t had breakfast before-hand and considered stopping off at one of our local places, but I decided I didn’t want to subject anyone to me today. So, I’m back home having breakfast on my own. The title indicates some of the things I see in the shadows. What do you see?
Sigo viendo artículos sobre los efectos a largo plazo del abuso verbal infantil. Siempre me he sentido culpable por hablar de mis desafíos después de todos estos años. Por eso, artículos como este reciente del periódico The Guardian (haz clic aquí) pueden resultar tranquilizadores.
Esta mañana tuve una visita regular con mi médica. No había desayunado antes y pensé en hacer una parada en uno de nuestros locales, pero decidí que no quería someter a nadie a mí hoy. Así que vuelvo a casa desayunando solo. El título indica algunas de las cosas que veo en las sombras. ¿Que ves?
I can see the penguin and the bagpipe, now that you mention them, but you have a better eye for seeing these things, I think. I looooove these shadow photos of yours, Mitch!
J Chabot:
I have so many more, Judy. When the light is right, I can’t stop myself. The light was NOT right yesterday.
All kinds of creatures strolling the sidewalk there. Mom is a complicated story.
David:
I’m about to head to the terrace to check out today’s shadows.
Childhood abuse leaves scars for life, no doubt about it.
Debra:
At my uncle’s 70th birthday party, my aunt commented to me how much he still struggled. I was in my 30s and couldn’t imagine it. Now I know it myself.
No matter how minor or major abuse is, it’s never fully forgotten.
I see the shadow giants are back.
Mistress Borghese:
Welcome to Shadowland.
The last one has me spellbound! Love “Wha’ is this angle?!” Listen, you are free as a bird to talk about yourself here. No one will condemn you, because everyone has a little something that just frigged up their life path. I truly believe this whole blog world has come about for the “good” for people to teach others and to learn about all these things that shaped a person. So, keep sharing and just perhaps the next sunrise will be a clear view, more than you have ever noticed before. Namaste!
Ron:
It still surprises me that we can carry the damage out entire lives… even if we overcome the worst of it.
I have carried a distaste for my SIL from the 1st day I met her (actually the 1st morning she came out of the bedroom ~ swearing that she needs her sleep etc). My Mom and I had flown to Edmonton for my brother’s wedding. Nerves are frayed sometimes and my ability to let things go just wasn’t in the cards that day. 50 years later the tinge of her outburst still haunts me. As the years went by, I tried in vain to really “like” her but it wasn’t going to happen. When my brother died in 2017, I didn’t go to his funeral because of the history we had ~ he loved Susan (wife) and I didn’t. 5000 kms separated us for all those years. My brother Mike was sincerely affected by my father’s death. Mike was 6 years old and his life changed for ever. I always felt I was an only child so I made a point of taking care of MOm any time she needed it. The story intertwines for all my life from aunts who had no use for Mike, on and on it goes. So you see physical and mental abuse fashions our lives and just can’t be completely eliminated.
Ron:
It’s good you had that physical distance to minimize the unpleasant situations. And it’s awful what we carry with us for so many years.
I’m all for people sharing their stories of childhood abuse or trauma, because someone, somewhere, will see that and realize they aren’t alone, or know someone who’s going through that right now.
Bob:
Well, watch this page.
I see an acrobat, a caveman/person on roller skates, a crow’s head, a woman with a TON of refundables, and a dog riding a bike! I could go on…..this is like looking a clouds in the sky and seeing ‘things’.
Your proactive nature has helped you get through this abuse. Good on you, Mitchell!
Jim:
I love the shadows for themselves. But when I turn them, the become so much more.
The shadow people look harmless enough, all two-dimensional, always stuck on the ground, on walls, and such. Silent. Elusive. But one day… I myself have never fully trusted them.
wickedhamster:
Yeah, I don’t think they’re really stuck on the ground.
Please don’t feel guilty about talking about the abuse you suffered as a child. There’s no time limit on the hurt it causes. Hugs. xx
Jennifer
Jennifer:
I’m living proof of the lack of time limit!
Words and the manner in which they are spoken or yelled can have such devastating repercussions. We don’t often recognize the power of words. Even something as “innocuous” as an older cousin telling me, when I was a pre-teen, that I would never be strong enough to be a lifeguard, had long lasting impact on my self-esteem and self image.
Frank:
Oh, I have some of those lines in my head, too. I had one of those cousins.
I see all those images, Mitchell! Brilliant photos… Jx
Jon:
So much fun.
Life happens/aka shit happens. It’s how you deal with it. Life is a work in progress.
Still trying to cope with my mother’s demise, but …. I’ll continue to live! Somehow, but I’ll never forget and I’ll carry it with me each day for the rest of my life. You know what happened.
Take each day as a new day, a new start !!! It could be worse, it could be better. It just ‘is’. Enjoy the moments of the day, there is always something to see/ learn from/enjoy even though it can be difficult. There’s someone in a worse position than you and someone in a better position. If you miss ‘this’ moment, you’ve missed life.
Move forward.
K
Karen:
And if not “move forward,” at least “move.”
Always nice to have one’s demons confirmed by an official study. Don’t feel guilty.
Kirk:
It still embarrasses me. I think, “but I was never beaten.”
It’s so interesting that when you turn a simple figure walking, the shadow seems to come alive and turn into so much more. Must be a trick of the mind — the way our brains see things. We pay attention to the upright figures, but less so to the upside-down ones.
I saw that Guardian article too. I’m not surprised verbal abuse lives on in damaging ways.
Steve:
I’m the one doing the turning and even I have trouble making sense of what was there originally. I could get lost in creating these for hours.
It stuns me that after all these years I can still hear my parents’ cruel, critical voices when I screw up. And by screw up, I mean drop a clothes pin. Thankfully, it only happens when I’m in a depressive state. SG will witness something sometimes, see the look on my face, and say, “Don’t listen to them.”