One of the blogs I keep track of is Soul Blessings, written by Tara, a self-described eclectic thinker. Her most recent post posed a puzzler. A friend is engaging in risky and rebellious behavior at work and reporting on it in detail to Tara. Tara is puzzling over her most honest and appropriate course of action. I’ll leave it to you to read the post and to make your own decision.
I include the link here because sooner or later everyone faces a similar dilemma. You may not have had to decide about ratting on Bill Clinton’s equivalent, but you may have known that someone is abusing public or corporate trust in other ways. Perhaps you knew a friend was cheating on a spouse. Perhaps you covered for someone.
Would you respond the same way again, or has your point of view changed with age? Stories of your experience with situations like this are self-instructive, and potentially a great way of conveying a value to others. These stories are also a powerful way of gaining insight and clearing the way for forgiveness and understanding.
Your situation may not involve ratting on behavior that’s specifically against the rules. You may have dealt with unfair treatment, or other distressing conditions. Perhaps you worked for the Boss From Hell, or worked with the Client From Hell, as I did at one point. I’ve written stacks and piles about that period, and added nearly as many afterward notes as original text. Rereading the stories always provokes new insights for me. I will not ever share these stories publicly.
Whether you share them or not, I urge you to write these.
The end of the year is an especially powerful time to write stories like this. For many of us, the last week in December is a time for reflection, self-assessment and planning. It’s a time of making resolutions of both physical and spiritual nature. Stories of conflict, with yourself as well as others, can be a powerful part of this process.
Write on,
Sharon Lippincott, aka Ritergal
2 comments :
Thanks for the link :)
You know it is funny that you mention the age topic. When I was a teen, I had a childhood friend of mine that had an eating disorder. Knowing I would risk losing her friendship, I went and told her parents anyways because I feared her welfare. She didn't speak to me for the longest time and eventually, as she was older, she respected my decision. I wonder if it was easier for me to do that for her because of the topic matter that I was dealing with as opposed to what I wrote on my site. I still haven't made a determination on how I will go about my friend's actions, though I know something should be done about it. Thank you for all of your comments.
Have a wonderful holiday!
Thanks for linking us to other links and topics. In your encouragement of writing about specifics or generalities or experiences, I will mention a book called "Unsent Letters" - one of those 'whacks on the side of the head' about an idea that is an obvious where I had a blind spot. Getting it OUT of the tape recorder of our brain and onto the page frees up space for new thoughts and experiences and peace.
My own experiences in writing are freeing yet fearful as at times my writing was discovered by eyes that were not supposed to read it. Writing is powerful - at times we influence others and at times we just free up the gunk that is still dragging us down.
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