Digging – not too far

I’ve just joined a course on ‘A Year of Writing to Uncover the Authentic Self’, so your prompt strikes the right chord.

Before this, I’ve attempted another course on Healing through Writing, and recommended it to many others. But certain parts are just too painful to write. One prefers letting bygones be bygones. It doesn’t help the main purpose though.

Digging can vary from a gentle scraping of the surface to reveal new skin, to seeing a mirror one would rather break. Scripted reality shows and fiction are safer outlets. It helps to fix the blame on someone else, and repaint yourself in fresh coolers. It is a lifelong process.

I know a lady, who gives different versions of the same incident, at different points of time. She can craft a story with what she saw or heard just now, by planting in her favourite people, who live in faraway countries. The listeners all know that it has never happened, and her words carry no credibility. But she is able to remember things, only when she visualises her faves in the good things she sees/hears, and adversaries in the negative things. Otherwise, it slips off her mind.

I realised she rewrites the stories every day to make herself feel comfortable. A psychologist would classify her as a narcissist, given other behaviour patterns, not just this. I think it is her key to survival – she does not let discomfort enter her world. Reality is twisted and turned to make everything look rosy. If I start writing her biography, I’d never complete the book, for she will keep changing versions.

It is the opposite of digging, and I wonder which one is better.

VJ’s Weekly Challenge: dig