my make-up...your make-up...LABELS
Submitted by madmuse on Thu, 03/04/2010 - 3:46amReceived an email from a friend telling me that the previous email ad I sent her yesterday was probably not related to her 'illness'. She claims to have CFS (chronic fatigue syndrome). I say 'claims', not because I don't believe her, but because there is no 'formal' diagnosis given to her yet, as far as I know. She is her own doctor and the symptoms she has are those of CFS. However since current research has no evidence of where this 'illness' or 'virus' or 'syndrome' or what-ever-you-want-to-call-it comes from, nor what the exact symptoms are, I cannot say with certainty that she has CFS. I do believe, though, that she has her own makeup, as do I, as do you, as does each one of us!
I say this because I AM SICK OF THE LABELS. The 'whoevers' or what-ever-you-want-to-call-them keep making up labels. As far as I know, all my friends, relatives, co-workers, and people I don't know, have about 3-5 labels!! "Hi, I'm Celine. I'm a 'vegan' 'ocd' 'bisexual' 'women' who just went through her third 'depression'." "Thank you for sharing Celine." "Hello, I'm Steve. I'm addicted to gambling and speeding. I can't control my appetite sometimes, so I guess I'm an 'over-eater'. Oh, and I collect a lot of stuff so my ex-girlfriend says I'm a 'hoarder'...I didn't know that was 'bad'." "Hello, Steve. Welcome."
So, you see what I'm saying... and this doesn't just happen in group therapy or AA meetings!! This is the regular conversation over lunch or when meeting someone at a party. And guess what guys...if you don't hear the lingo, listen carefully, you'll hear the 'under-lingo' and you'll diagnose the person next to you right away! It's instant eye-contact or non-eye-contact for 'secure' or 'insecure', for example. We all know that one. But do we? Do we rush to label? Are we right?
I used to think that I could read people inside out after reading so many psychology, sociology, cultural-anthropology books, and living around the world; then I began reading myself. It wasn't until then that I realized that