Emotional Intelligence | Stevehein.com
Excerpt from "Speak of the Ghost: In The
Name of Emotion Literacy"
by
Pamela Sackett ( http://emolit.org)
| If a person accidentally shoots
off my foot wouldn't it be reasonable for the doctor to ask "how did this happen?" should I say, "it just happened." or should I say, "if I didn't have a foot this never would have happened." or should I say, "how did what happen?" or should I say, "it wasn't their fault the gun went off." or "OUCH!" should I say ouch? may I say, "OUCH!" and pray this never happens again could I rest with the prayer or rest after I tell the doctor how and where this atrocity happened? and might I have a strong urge to get the gun away from the gun shooter so that my other foot can feel safe? what if everybody, accidentally, is shooting off feet all over the place and losing a foot is a common daily occurrence and what if shutting up about is encouraged and the way to be thought of as a noble, respectful and courageous soul? I'd be hard-pressed to convince anybody to say it hurts to have your foot shot off but it does hurt and pain's a curious thing especially if you are awake to it feelers of pain want to know where did it come from and how to get it to go away for good would you tell a footless person that she should be quiet about her pain and that to identify the source of it is to, well, god-forbid, to blame and "blaming is not right" so she must "forgive with all your might" but I am in pain and I want it to end and I would like to use my might for myself to prevent it from happening again how might I do this in a world of sleeping-ankled, foot blamers in a world of gun preferrers and trigger-happy anger tamers? how might I do this in a world where mute one-footed people are taken for granted because two-footed people are so rare? and most everybody has forgotten that two feet are even possible and to keep more than one is highly improbable so losing one is nothing to bear and therefore nothing to guard but it is natural to be self-protective in a jungle the lion roars in the city of one-footed strangers we smile and quietly lock our doors |