Will frames this work of self-reflection as surrender, which maybe doesn't seem that "empowering", whatever that word has come to mean. But to someone who spends much of his life fighting things beyond his control, there can be power in surrender. To complement this - and maybe mirror something we saw earlier with Jane - his therapist reminds him that he IS in control of more than he knows.
4 thoughts on “#876 – keeping a step ahead”
Da5id
This is such a sweet moment!
Also, I really appreciate the kinder tone you're taking in your commentary now. I know that you have always spoken from a position of having grown through the feelings and situations you're showing, and with the language you're using now it's a lot clearer the care and empathy you have for people going through this stuff.
Bleh
It's ability to recognize and gauge a situation, certainly. I've got a lot of sympathy for Will in this page, this is also something I struggle with.
Amelie W.
Gee, BIlly, how come your shrink lets you have TWO lollipops?
(Sorry)
(Not sorry)
max
The pressure to always be “empowered” becomes its own burden and performance. Will is voicing his real feelings here, the unhealthy thing would be if he felt shame and concealed them. (Its a promising step that he defends his metaphor in the previous page and pushes against the therapist!) Admitting the feelings and making changes to be more humane to yourself is definitely a kind of surrender, but its more an admission that theres a gap between the person you are and the person you wish you were– sometimes striving to be that person begets growth but not if the person you want to be isnt someone you would actually enjoy being. Being honest with how you feel and what you want means you have to mourn that ideal, but it also means you can start learning to be happy with who you are and start making decisions that line up with what you really want in life