It’s about US; that faction of society which muddles through a daily world of critical expectation that we be somehow different, well actually, better.
There’s a time and a place for our quirks, idiosyncrasies and challenges, but somehow, it’s rarely now… or here. We have an ever-present secret code to follow, written by family, social circles and the workplace that plays out in expressions and body language meant to inform our Spidie-sense of some discomforting presentation of our natural selves. Entire branches of society from subways to HR offices are instantly befuddled into addressing us like children who may benefit from well-intentioned social que 101 orientation. We’re obligated to memorize appropriate protocols for every interaction and emulate them on point so as to not breach another’s comfort zone. In doing so, we become not better selves, but better actors and are, little by little, lost to the amalgam of banal commonality. Most disciplines of the mental health stripe focus too much on what is considered “normal” and where we lack in comparative standards, then head-scratch over why counseling and therapy struggles to fix us, so they add meds.
Meds do help us achieve a sense of normalcy. So do behavioral tools. But so would a better understanding of where we’re at rather than where we ‘should be’.
Here at Be Right Back, we believe the most useful tools for bringing these two ends closer together are grounded in the kind of language we use – Poetry and historically introspective literature. Such is actually a growing practice in therapeutic circles.
We approve. Join us – and bring coffee.