Don’t Take It Personally

current events, disability, Health, life, ME/CFS, media, nonfiction, opinion, , , , 43 Comments

Spurred on by my mother, I left home at the age of seventeen. It was the right thing for all involved, but when my parents replaced me with two cats, I couldn’t help but feel slighted: I’m deadly allergic to cats.

When my mother-in-law spiked a meal with milk, hoping to prove that food allergies aren’t a real thing, I graciously accepted her apology while suffering for days afterwards.

People’s choices don’t always reflect my needs. I get that. So when a good friend decided not to get vaccinated, I honoured her decision. And when the virus took off, becoming more of a threat, I suggested we keep our distance.

But this recent uprising has struck me hard. I thought that what set Canadians apart was our care and concern of one another. We’ve been in this together all along, after all. Now healthcare providers are enemies, democracy oppressive, and the vulnerable are ignored.

“You’re taking it too personally,” my husband advises.

Am I?

(Art mine)

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Permission to write, paint, and imagine are the gifts I gave myself when chronic illness hit - a fair exchange: being for doing. Relevance is an attitude. Humour essential.

43 thoughts on “Don’t Take It Personally”

  2. I’m glad that people here in Canada are beginning to take it personally. At the start of all this mandate, I took it personally rejecting what was mandated. I accepted what others decided. The Freedom Convoy has keep me occupied and helping a private group as a moderator. Hence, MIA here. Hello, VJ. How are you affected by the Freedom Rally in your part of Canada?

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    1. We are down the road from Windsor – my brother-in-law works in Michigan – so that affects us. Also, have a daughter who lives and works in Ottawa. She has been holed up in her apartment, after having been harassed for wearing a mask. Her anxiety is high right now. We pray for a peaceful end to things.

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  3. It doesn’t get more personal than your health. I take it personally too (shouldn’t we all?) and I think a lot of it stems from an out of control sense of fear that seems to be everywhere (including the invisible covid enemy in the air). As fear (and denial) rises, so does a sense of a loss of control and an angry path to tunnel minded self preservation – which, I think, contributes to the selfish behavior. The lack of trust in science blows me away. I guess you can tell I’ve tried to understand this awfulness too. Still working on that. Very appropriate image!

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  8. I think that this is just the beginning. The sense of entitlement that being able to glue up the entire works brings to some people is not going to end here. It will now be seen as a right. It goes right along with the sense of entitlement that’s developed regarding physical violence against anyone you disagree with.

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    1. Our right to protest is a very important part of democracy. Bullying and intimidating the very people you claim to represent takes this into a whole new realm, as you say, entitlement. How do we de-tangle this mess, I wonder.

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  9. We are each caught in a massive barbed-wire tangle – what one does tugs/pricks at others – how could any of us NOT take this personally? Your prior history may enhance your view of this mess we’re in … ALL of us. [My self-talk is along lines of “let it be” and “don’t make it worse” which net out to acceptance – but not always patience!]

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  10. No, you are not. I can’t believe the degree of stupidity and total lack of concern for others that has taken hold here in the USA. It’s a pandemic which means every single person should be taking it personally, and number of people who don’t understand that is astounding.

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      2. I saw the video from the board-certified physician you shared on Twitter earlier. What struck me the most was his saying that getting vaccinated is a choice–but if you make that choice, you lose your access to things you want. Your choice.

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