Are you infected?
Someone told me today that we are all infected by the virus and it is hate, fear and doubt. We come into the world virus free and slowly (or quickly depending on the circumstances) become more and more infected until we cannot tell who we are separate from the sickness. She said the virus makes us doubt ourselves, makes us fear, makes us mistrust and we knowingly and unknowingly pass it on to others every time we do something hurtful or mean. The only way to cure ourselves is to figure out who we are apart from the virus. I’m not sure what it all means yet, but I’m working on it.
I battle this often Marg and am ashamed to admit it. I’m reading a book right now that talks about power struggles. It says our society is built on creating a reality where we have “power over” others. I think this virus is just one of the many tactics we use to achieve this.
i think this is a helpful metaphor in some ways, but be careful, young obi-wan. if we think of hate, fear and doubt as a virus, as something that invades us like an alien presence, then we might also invite a bit of self-hatred, self-doubt, and self-fear when we experience these emotions because we “shouldn’t” be; we are “infected”. while it’s definitely Not Good to run your life and your relationships with others based on fear, doubt, mistrust or hatred, it’s also Not Good to set up an oppositional condition between your “good” and “bad” selves, with your “bad” self as something that should be rejected and ejected. this is by no means an apology for treating others badly or an excuse for fearful, hateful behavior, but i do believe it’s problematic to wrap up valid defense mechanisms(like mistrust — trust has to be earned, and is a very relational thing that involves input and output) with some sort of external, albiet metaphorical, invader.