Unapologetic: I will not "atone" for existing.
I've read articles, saw interviews of women, for example, talking about either their intelligence or the number of degrees or kinds of degrees that they have and how that's impacted their lives socially. So I can recognize that there is something there because people can either feel intimidated or threatened by or any other number of things by something that is other, something that is unfamiliar. And so again, I can see some truth to this comment, but what does not sit well with me is that word atone
Glenn Mann
@GlennPriceMannΒ Β·Β 1:32
You shouldn't have to feel like you have to atone for just who you are, but something that you. How your brain works or who you are, whatever, you have no control over that. So. And society sometimes wants everyone to kind of fit in very neat, comfortable roles and positions. But we know that's not true. It doesn't. The world doesn't work like that
I want to acknowledge and experience. And then it's like, okay, what are we going to do now? Right? And I can't wallow in those feelings. And partially because they can be destructive as well as language can be destructive. And so the quote is important to know that we're not alone. It's important to be able to express that sentiment. But I can't hang on to that quote because, excuse me, I should clarify
Thade
@mire_of_musingΒ Β·Β 3:38
I had never heard the quote before, and it's one that needs talked about because there's a lot of quotes floating around like this. And there's some on the flip side also, there's some feel good, new agey even, like mental wellness sort of quotes. And I say it like that only because I think we both know the type of mental wellness paths, endeavors, businesses that promote certain quotes
I love the way that you put that. Lacking nuance does not lead to mental wellness. Like, I can talk about it in all these other sort of abstract ways, and I have of the reductive labels, and then it becomes who belongs in which box? And elevating and demoting, you know, each label slash box. And, you know, does the box mean this or does it mean that?
Swell Team
@SwellΒ Β·Β 0:15
Blair Redmond
@blairbearingΒ Β·Β 2:30
Sorry, but I know there was muse in there. I just loved all of your perspectives and really appreciate this conversation and can't wait to see what else the people say. So thank you for starting the conversation and, as always, sharing your perspective. I haven't listened to you in a while, but I love your mind, Christina. I've told you that several times. But I love the way that you think and the way that you break things down. It makes sense to me
Erica Jean
@HeyItsEricaΒ Β·Β 3:09
So I have heard that before, but we should never feel like we have to pay for who we are. You know, that's just, you know, asinine in a way, because why would a cat apologize for chasing a mouse or for meowing or, you know, why would we do this? We do it to ourselves sometimes. And this is not to say that the quote is not true, because there are some people who are atoning for their existence
And so then that brings different people in, and then I also, as a result, make different decisions of who I allow in, as well as being able to find people who are similar, let's say, flavors of complexity of mind. And so I could definitely see, like, that fits for me too. I'm not sure if I like if I take that definition of bringing into harmony for the word atonement and put it into this quote
I saw a video my brother sent me a few years ago. I didn't at first believe it was me because I have a degree of face blindness, but I believe my brother. I was performing, but I didn't make eye contact with anyone. No one in the performance, no one off, like, in the audience. It was really funny to watch because it was like I was almost performing with my eyes closed
Shawna Kearsley
@OnAcornBayΒ Β·Β 4:58
That sounds a little bit dated and may go back to the alcoholics anonymous days when they would use religion in that world. I don't know. I don't know any of this. I'm exploring thoughts, as you have invited. A curiosity of enjoyment here. I'm enjoying this. So complexities of mind. Homosexuality could be considered a complexity of the mind that one must atone for. Complexities by itself means multi things, multidimensional things, multi strand things. So we
And I think some of this predates the idea of, let's say, the christian understanding of the word atonement with respect to setting people apart because they are, quote unquote, strange or a threat to the establishment, etcetera. The man who wrote this was born in 69, so he's 54 years old, and I believe he is a non believer. He wrote a book called religion for a nonbelievers guide to religion or something like that
Creative Reader
@MoonPoetΒ Β·Β 4:37
And I want to mention that I don't mean simple in a derogatory manner, because there is a great deal of beauty and joy at discovery, but there is also another kind of beauty and happiness, like in the basic tasks of life, that don't require complex thought or deep thought. So I don't want to necessarily, like, put one above the other
You know, at first, when you were talking about essentially someone being the first to innovate or first to discover something and how they're alone on this sort of frontier of things. And I thought, you know, being alone and being lonely, I thought of them as being two different things. But at the same time, I think there's something to what you're saying because, like, I'm not an innovator or anything like that, but when I discover something new to me
J.L. Beasley
@Her_SisuΒ Β·Β 4:04
On the flip side of it, I receive what you're saying, the way how you put it out there, and I also hear it and see it as the loneliness is not as in you're going to be alone having no one. It just means that you. You'll be more so small in quantity, small in
And then if one's trying to become at one with self, this additional processing that's required may take additional time, additional, almost isolation, to strip out any sort of distractions and so on. So to be alone. In order to do this, of course, he uses the word loneliness instead of alone. And because he is 54, born in 69, I dismissed the definition of to become at one because the dictionary said it was obsolete
Blair Redmond
@blairbearingΒ Β·Β 2:30
But it does. It does make you different. Like, I think about different things. I'm interested in different things. And when you go out in society and you're around the group or you're around the masses and you're bringing up these random things that you're into, including this app. Including this app, sometimes people are like, what is that? And you're explaining it to them, and they're looking at you like you're an alien. But it's okay
There's like a melting pot aspect of everyone must learn the same things and must be tested and come up with the same results. Like, the goal is to have everyone be the same before we pump them out of the school system. Right. And not everyone learns the same way. Not everyone excels the same way. And that's not a good or bad thing. It's just different
Blair Redmond
@blairbearingΒ Β·Β 0:27
Hey, Christina, you got cut off at the end, but no, you definitely articulated that well, and I'm gonna check out that video and just thank you. You know, thank you for starting the conversation, continuing the conversation, and just, just overall, I think this is just greatness is what I would describe it as, and I appreciate you. I'm gonna check out that video. Thank you
Kim Soliz
@apianogirlΒ Β·Β 4:59
I agree, this whole thing with atoning, I used to. I hated it. I'm a very emotional person. I'm an empathetic, and I have compassion for people. And I've always loved the uniqueness of people, you know, the unique people. And I, you know, if I get mad or angry, my first reaction is just to cry. And I was always, as a child, told to stop crying. I had no reason to cry
And I was just like, no one's going to take me seriously if I'm crying all the time when I'm standing in front of a group. But it was extremely overwhelming. There's a lot of stimuli from the lighting to all of these eyes looking at you. You're trying to process all of that incoming data while you're also trying to think about what it is that you want to communicate and do it in an effective way
Joshua Tito
@ozzymendezΒ Β·Β 5:00
We were medicated or had forced lobotomies or were just thought of as some weird person, some weird family member or something like that. But things have come a long way, thankfully. And I think autistic people need to understand that they cannot internalize these messages, these false, ignorant messages, and remain healthy people. They have to resist the propaganda, basically
That is one that stands out to me. That really bugs me, that it's lumped in with autism as opposed to. As a result of being different and how society sees us. You know what I mean? Anyway, welcome back again, and it's good to hear from
Joshua Tito
@ozzymendezΒ Β·Β 5:00
Oh, it's good to be back. Yeah, I'm definitely trying to engage more and we'll see how that goes. Yeah. The solution I have is that for people who are communicating in bad faith or are otherwise rotten people, I respond with utter indifference. I don't, I don't care what they have to say. I don't care to associate with them at all. I don't help in an emergency
Yeah, we can definitely make different decisions about the environment that we put ourselves in the selections that we make, the things that we tolerate or don't, the boundaries, etcetera. I was thinking, but not communicating, of at a societal level, the negative reinforcement ideas that are in the media, that are perpetuated through people talking or from the quote unquote experts. I'm thinking from that perspective. But again, I did not communicate that
Kim Soliz
@apianogirlΒ Β·Β 4:56
And so, like, the kindergarten teacher, it's just like, why should I do. Why should I do that? That's your classroom. You should. You need to figure it out. I'm not going to figure it out for you. And I think that's where acceptance begins is by saying, you know, look, we have this person who thinks in a different way and we want to include them and use their strengths. So what can we do to incorporate that?
I mean, a lot of the diagnoses, in my opinion, in the DSM are describing them from a perspective of how they disrupt the masses. Attention hyperactivity. Dis. Hyper. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Thank you. Brain is super mush today, anyway. Barely scratches the surface of all that's involved and instead describes it of how it disrupts the masses rather than recognizing the nuance and complexity that's there. And I think, like, it's just another example of othering