I'm really glad you wrote this, Lillian. As far as I know, I've never met anyone with OCD, and so I never had a window into what it's actually like. Usually, when you get secondhand info on what a particular disorder is like (i.e. for a book or pop culture portrayal), you get a decent sense of the general symptoms or what a prototypical case looks like, but you miss the most important illustrative stuff - the very specific details of personal experience, which you share here.
The thing about the road debris and power lines is wild...I can't even imagine. So glad you got the help you needed :)
I'm still working on embracing things like self-love and accepting that I am wonderful. Ever since I was little, I've always been a bit uncomfortable with being praised by others, and I'm still working on accepting that more gracefully as well. This post was a nice little reminder to not overlook the importance of those things.
Thank you for reading and for sharing your thoughts, Allen! I love that you are working on accepting praise and embracing self-love. My senior year at Rice, we instituted a rule in our suite that anytime someone said something unkind about themselves, they then had to say 3 things they liked about themselves. I was shocked how uncomfortable that made people - it was easier to say the unkind things about themselves. I’m learning self-love is a journey for all of us. It’s definitely one I’m still working on, but I like that it’s also a journey we can make in community.
I'm really glad you wrote this, Lillian. As far as I know, I've never met anyone with OCD, and so I never had a window into what it's actually like. Usually, when you get secondhand info on what a particular disorder is like (i.e. for a book or pop culture portrayal), you get a decent sense of the general symptoms or what a prototypical case looks like, but you miss the most important illustrative stuff - the very specific details of personal experience, which you share here.
The thing about the road debris and power lines is wild...I can't even imagine. So glad you got the help you needed :)
I'm still working on embracing things like self-love and accepting that I am wonderful. Ever since I was little, I've always been a bit uncomfortable with being praised by others, and I'm still working on accepting that more gracefully as well. This post was a nice little reminder to not overlook the importance of those things.
Thank you for reading and for sharing your thoughts, Allen! I love that you are working on accepting praise and embracing self-love. My senior year at Rice, we instituted a rule in our suite that anytime someone said something unkind about themselves, they then had to say 3 things they liked about themselves. I was shocked how uncomfortable that made people - it was easier to say the unkind things about themselves. I’m learning self-love is a journey for all of us. It’s definitely one I’m still working on, but I like that it’s also a journey we can make in community.