I Think it's Time for a Little Introspective Therapy!
Has anyone else been to therapy - such as: family therapy, couples' therapy, conflict resolution stuff? I have and one thing I learned that's helped me out in a few conflict situations is the concept of "I" messages.
(If you're not familiar, these are statements that express personal feelings, affirmations and opinions that are used to promote understanding between folks in conflict. That's my lay person's understanding and I'm not a psychologist, so if you want more explanation, please look it up.)
Anyway, I'm soooo tired of the "Bernie did this", the "DNC did that", "Hillary should do this", "Stein is that" back and forth I've seen for over a year, that I'm gonna suggest something different.
I would like to hear "I" messages in response to this thread. These should be about yourself, not anyone else. In the form of "I feel <this>", "I was hurt by <that>", "I understood <this>", "I don't get <that>", "I was angry about <this other thing>", "I loved the way that <this> went". They can be cathartic or just explanatory, but as much as possible, they should not be accusatory or confrontational.
Encouraging or affirming responses are also encouraged: "I understand", "I hear ya", "I didn't know that's how you felt"
I think this is the sort of thing that can produce not just understanding, but maybe ideas of how to do something constructive going forward. Here's hoping ...
I'll start...
1. I acknowledge that I was not as supportive as I could have been for Hillary's campaign... I feel like I could have done more somehow.
2. Throughout the 2016 campaign, I was hurt and confused by a few of the reactions to concerns I brought up about Hillary and the DNC. This was from friends, family and on this forum. I only wanted a discussion and I felt like I was being told to shut up.