"You do that spadework because you think it will help but when has burying anything ever helped." What a line! The gap between the burial and what grows out of it is the piece. Thank you for writing this.
This is vital. Can confirm that the early adolescent beatdown is life altering, horizon shrinking, and worse. I love that kid who turned around and faced it, survived.
I think about that quote all the time; fear is a mind-bender too, whisking split-second costume and set changes complete with the exact level of grey-tone lowlight it takes to convince your brain it is in deep, existential danger. It’s such a trip. Like the mind’s eye goes fishbowl lens and suddenly everybody’s leering.
It's taken years to get the courage to use my voice, and here you are, were, a high school sophomore. I don't think we can have these experiences and not be angry, and I wonder how you work with anger in writing. Maybe a lesson in that?
Thanks for bringing up that painful story which is a window into what it's like to be a poor brown immigrant who doesn't fit in. Those kids who beat you down were acting in the true spirit of this country which is "might makes right" where it's okay to gang up on someone who is weaker than you are. It's a reflection of the cruel dog-eat-dog system of capitalism that we're living under, one that is right now dropping bombs on the people of Iran, terrorizing immigrants with ICE raids, deportations and murder, destroying the planet because of global warming, and threatening the possibility of nuclear war. We together need to stand up as you did. We could have a much better system than the life-stealing one we are living in now.
It’s scary how fear can manifest into every part of ourselves, even the bones, and the way our bodies move and react. And how the most powerful thing we can do is stand still and let it pass through…love the recollection of that grounded adolescent fear.
Fear is a word killer too. Paralysing.
"You do that spadework because you think it will help but when has burying anything ever helped." What a line! The gap between the burial and what grows out of it is the piece. Thank you for writing this.
This is vital. Can confirm that the early adolescent beatdown is life altering, horizon shrinking, and worse. I love that kid who turned around and faced it, survived.
I think about that quote all the time; fear is a mind-bender too, whisking split-second costume and set changes complete with the exact level of grey-tone lowlight it takes to convince your brain it is in deep, existential danger. It’s such a trip. Like the mind’s eye goes fishbowl lens and suddenly everybody’s leering.
It's taken years to get the courage to use my voice, and here you are, were, a high school sophomore. I don't think we can have these experiences and not be angry, and I wonder how you work with anger in writing. Maybe a lesson in that?
Don't know you, Junot, never met you, but proud as hell of you.
Thanks for bringing up that painful story which is a window into what it's like to be a poor brown immigrant who doesn't fit in. Those kids who beat you down were acting in the true spirit of this country which is "might makes right" where it's okay to gang up on someone who is weaker than you are. It's a reflection of the cruel dog-eat-dog system of capitalism that we're living under, one that is right now dropping bombs on the people of Iran, terrorizing immigrants with ICE raids, deportations and murder, destroying the planet because of global warming, and threatening the possibility of nuclear war. We together need to stand up as you did. We could have a much better system than the life-stealing one we are living in now.
It’s scary how fear can manifest into every part of ourselves, even the bones, and the way our bodies move and react. And how the most powerful thing we can do is stand still and let it pass through…love the recollection of that grounded adolescent fear.