Functioning Disfunctionally

People from disfunctional families are great arsenals of silence. We carry with ourselves whole desert wastelands of words not to be spoken, stories not to be told. Or to be told in the most superficial form - merely brushed by. It's an irony that airing these dramas is often taboo. Yet the agony secrecy causes can only be relieved by talk, by the relating of experiences. Who listens is almost irrelevant, as long as the watching eyes remain lit, as long as they indicate attention and empathy.

Without such talk, there's usually a heavy sense of guilt. That silence spills out inside it's bearer the persistent sting of indictment - what if, why...

What is it about suffering that makes people so different? It teaches us about human nature. Suffering and desperation force people to search the heart in a way "normal" people can't. It makes us wise beyond our years; most don't have to grow up so quickly.