“You are not unique”: in my work this is the #1 take-home message of therapy, the key to ending our suffering and, frustratingly, the #1 most difficult idea to accept. My favourite therapist & author, Irvin Yalom, has said something like “we all wish to be unique in our wretchedness” - such a difficult idea to let go of!
Right on. Maybe off topic, but I think about this a lot in terms of depression, disorders, etc. So much of it feels like a cry to be *different* when often we are *all* wrestling with similar things. The toughest pill to swallow: "You're not that special." Related: Just saw a vid where Gabor Mate said, "You don't have a disorder. You have a coping mechanism."
Loved The End of the Tour and DFW was a fantastic writer and a fantastic, though tortured and complex, man. The D.T. Max biography of him (Every Love Story is a Ghost Story) is a worthy read. Wallace’s books were great but personally his essays moved me the most.
Nice. A good way in: Keep trying to answer this question "How did that feel?" The circumstances may be unique to you but the *feelings* you respond with are probably felt by many others.
“You are not unique”: in my work this is the #1 take-home message of therapy, the key to ending our suffering and, frustratingly, the #1 most difficult idea to accept. My favourite therapist & author, Irvin Yalom, has said something like “we all wish to be unique in our wretchedness” - such a difficult idea to let go of!
Right on. Maybe off topic, but I think about this a lot in terms of depression, disorders, etc. So much of it feels like a cry to be *different* when often we are *all* wrestling with similar things. The toughest pill to swallow: "You're not that special." Related: Just saw a vid where Gabor Mate said, "You don't have a disorder. You have a coping mechanism."
George Michael was a gifted artist . Being a child of the 80's I learned at a young age that guilty feet have got no rhythm.
Loved that piece on Sedaris. Thanks for sharing. I guess I never realized the pure magnetism of not giving a shit!
Oh yeah. Makes me think of Norm Macdonald: https://www.instagram.com/reel/CtGaJPIA8og/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
Loved The End of the Tour and DFW was a fantastic writer and a fantastic, though tortured and complex, man. The D.T. Max biography of him (Every Love Story is a Ghost Story) is a worthy read. Wallace’s books were great but personally his essays moved me the most.
Michael Mohr
‘Sincere American Writing’
https://michaelmohr.substack.com/
Nice. A good way in: Keep trying to answer this question "How did that feel?" The circumstances may be unique to you but the *feelings* you respond with are probably felt by many others.