Qualified

[secretchord]

...

[mat james]

surviving is the aim.
All else is luxury,

Perhaps this sums it up, secretchord. It does for me.
Your pain is real.
But among the gasping survival:

the blossoms.

Regards,
Mat.

[Byron]

That one lost her kids and still
Cuts essays on her arms until she’s done

Damage enough to bring relief enough
For now.

secretchord, knows how reality is empathy, and not sympathy.

This piece runs along at quite a pace, as its characters struggle with life's pace.

A Well of souls.

[secretchord]

secretchord, knows how reality is empathy, and not sympathy.

This piece runs along at quite a pace, as its characters struggle with life's pace.

A Well of souls.

this piece was written as my reflection on working three years or so mental health crisis intervention; there's an awful lot of suffering in the world and not all of it is mine; I meet these people every day

[Byron]

The following are from SI discussion forums and literature sources. secretchord will have come across similar processes used to cope with un-cope-able situations.

How will you know I am hurting,
If you cannot see my pain?
To wear it on my body
Tells what words cannot explain.
–C. Blount

"The pain of the mind is worse than the pain of the body"
Publilius Syrus (Roman author, 1st century B.C.)

"Self-injury:
is best described as a coping mechanism. The real issue is what lies beneath
the surface. And beneath that surface is not just pain, but beauty."

My scars are too real to explain away — but they have kept me going. My SI is not an
art form, a fad, a statement for others to see. It is my coping device, used at nearly
'un-cope-able’ times. It’s a part of me that has given me strength.

I don’t want to kill my self
I just want to feel… free
when I cut I can forget
all my problems
and just concentrate
on the pain
for that second
I am free

[secretchord]

The following are from SI discussion forums and literature sources. secretchord will have come across similar processes used to cope with un-cope-able situations.

How will you know I am hurting,
If you cannot see my pain?
To wear it on my body
Tells what words cannot explain.
–C. Blount

"The pain of the mind is worse than the pain of the body"
Publilius Syrus (Roman author, 1st century B.C.)

"Self-injury:
is best described as a coping mechanism. The real issue is what lies beneath
the surface. And beneath that surface is not just pain, but beauty."

My scars are too real to explain away — but they have kept me going. My SI is not an
art form, a fad, a statement for others to see. It is my coping device, used at nearly
'un-cope-able’ times. It’s a part of me that has given me strength.

I don’t want to kill my self
I just want to feel… free
when I cut I can forget
all my problems
and just concentrate
on the pain
for that second
I am free

you're right, I come across these coping strategies all the time; we try to encourage use of less harmful ones but if that's all people have got then we let them do it, who are we to take it away from them?

I appreciate your response Byron

[Cate]

True – a hard truth. You can provide tools, strategies, health information and offer to provide support, but if you try force ‘help’ then your infringing on rights.

I think that it can be difficult to watch people suffer, to accept our limitations for what we can help with and to maintain compassion without slipping into pity. There will always be families or people that will slip past your self defenses and sneak into your heart – people you will secretly care about more, than what is professionally responsible to do – but they’re the ones who keep you grounded, they keep you passionate.

Somebody posted this quote as a philosophy question – which I’m sure it is, but I read it more as practical advice for people who follow a path of trying to be of use to others.
"If I am not for myself, who will be for me?
But if I am only for myself, who am I?
If not now, when?"
To me it’s saying you’re responsible for taking care of yourself and you need to do this before you can take care of others, before you can realize your purpose, (yes that's cheesy) and that you shouldn’t wait for the right time… just do it.