damaged people

I haven't been on here in months.  I have re read my earlier posts and although they are not revolutionary in thought, they are accurate, based on experience and personal truth.

I listened to Damaged People this week with great intensity.  it came up on my playlist and instead of just singling along, I really listened. "Damaged People, drawn together by subtleties that we are not aware of". people are hurting, people are trying to be better.  so many are trying to rise above what has happened to them.  who is listening?  who is taking care of them?  who is helping them not make the same mistakes?

As children grow and are entrusted to the adults in their lives, lessons are learned. The words get imprinted on the slate and people begin to take shape all the while developing into the adults that they become. At best, children have hardworking, committed, responsible parents and others in their lives trying to do right by them.  They live within the social norms, passing on their values, practicing what they preach and teaching indelible lessons. Children observe, learn, try, fail, succeed, practice and master. At worst, children are born into families who neglect, abuse, harm, and damage.  These children have social and cultural norms as well, albeit vastly skewed from those mentioned above. ALL children have slates on which messages are written.

Suggesting that people are damaged might upset some; my definitions and musings follow. There's a theory and a statement about a baby at birth being likened to a "blank slate".  The theory continues that the people that surround that baby and young child are the "writers" on the slate.  Also, that the people doing the writing and the content of the slate entries determine the level of social, emotional and relational success a person will have as they grow. This seemed like a reasonable theory to me. However, it is important to state that I have two very different perspectives. You see, the work I do in human services has shown me many people that did not have good people writing on their slates as they grew.  The adults in their lives hurt, neglected and abused them.  Those people are now forced to live with the damage that others caused them as children. My personal slate is the opposing perspective. As a small child I experienced nothing but love, nurtu...

I am inspired by music. I feel it speaks to me. I am one of a few people that I know that listen to most lyrics until I feel them...feel them contribute to my life.  Often, I feel like the songwriter has looked into my soul during different periods of my life and UNDERSTOOD what it was like to be me. Frequently, I have found myself on that side of Martin Gore's lyrics, and although the lyrics of the track that inspired my blog title do not speak to me specifically, the title reflects one of the most profound lessons I have learned...people are damaged.