Monday, August 19, 2013

The Stories We Tell Ourselves

I don't know if this is a flaw or compassion, but I find myself sugar coating a lot.

Example:  recently the freeloader mama cat had a litter of kittens.  She is the worst kitty mama we have ever encountered.  She is just not cut out for motherhood.  And, if we could catch her, we'd get her fixed.  She had 5 kittens.  All beautiful variations of black and white.  We knew one died pretty quickly.  Then she started moving them around.  She will typically leave one behind when she moves them.  Late last week, I observed that she'd moved them, and abandoned the ones that were left to die.  Later that day, I did observe that they had all died, but their little bodies were inaccessible for me to retrieve to bury.

Since then, Phenom has been looking for the kittens.  Phenom thinks she might have moved them under the house in the rain.  I'm playing along, because I don't want the Phenom to be sad/angry over their fate.

Example:  I have a good friend who has struggled for years with mental illness.  He suffers from physical ailments that contribute, some.  Recently, my friend has fallen back into the pit.  I'm not sure how much I'm sugar-coating his situation . . . or am I just being kind?

And, when all else fails, I'm not afraid to use manipulation.

It's a tangled web.

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