Tuesday 24 April 2018

Once a Seeker Always a Seeker | Shrink Tales

I got lost at Kandivali station in the morning. But in things like that i have improved a bit. Usually what i think is, 'it had to happen because it's me.' But this time irritating as it was, i persevered and asked around and found my way out. When i accomplish such things i feel good. Like the last time, there was a roadblock when i went to deposit my cheque at the bank. But instead of going back home, i kept going in search of the next option. Something inji has been asking me to do forever. But it's kind of happening.

We spoke about why i missed the previous session. Ish again said to me that we try to protect ourselves when we anticipate hurt. If i felt therapy was going in a direction that i am reluctant to look into, it was natural for it to happen. It could be the body image problem. I had decided to write an article on it, coming out as a feminist who has still not been able to solve this problem after i read Nisha Susan's brilliant article. That's still in my to-do list and probably because of the same reason.

All that i don't want to be - this is every person's problem. This thought is a luxury, i know. It's a privilege. I can think of what i am and what i am not and brood and be depressed because i don't have to worry about where to sleep tonight or how to eat tomorrow. Yes, depression is a privilege. So is love.

So by killing oneself, one is trying to stop being all that they are. But there is a contradiction right there, isn't there? Because killing yourself is also part of who you are and by doing it to stop being who you are, you are being yet another part of what you are.

I want to be like inji because i don't like what i am. Yes, it's time to realise that that what i am is a sum of all that i am not, a sum of all my imperfections but don't know. I am the seeker, always. I have got to strive to be something i am not, at all times. That's what keeps me going. Some of the things stick to you. Some don't. Filmmaking stuck. Basketball, violin and girl scouts didn't.

We spoke about the protective shield i build around inji all the time. It was very interesting, what Ish said about it. The first thing i assume when i speak about inji to someone is that they are going to hate her. Ish said that it sounds almost as if i want them to hate her. It could be true. Because then, i get a sense of superiority by observing that i love her in spite of all the reasons others state to hate her. Yeah, i do believe that the reasons everyone states are not valid but even then, standing with her is somewhat like how it was with sister. We are a force to reckon with and can't be touched. You touch one of us and there will be blood. This combative mode is what i am used to. I am not used to people accepting me. Same goes for inji. And maybe, inside me, that's what i am okay with. Really, i don't like it when someone likes me. I am much more comfortable knowing that they hate me.

Ish also spoke about the things other hate about inji. So i know that most people hate her for being in US and having an opinion about things in India. Of supporting movements here. They accuse her of physically being in another place while instigating other people over here. I have not felt this about her. I think that it's bullshit. But there are things i have hated her for. The way she speaks. So when someone else hates her for the way she speaks, i have this smile on my face, thinking, i know exactly what you're talking about. But i am past all that. Look where i am now, now that i have learnt better. I know better.

Don't know. Inji is a big part of my life. There is no me without her, i feel. And this might be why mother hates her. Maybe she knows i feel this way about inji and not about her. Biologically, i am here only because of mother but in a purely existential sort of way, i feel i am attached to inji by my soul. That there is a knot. And that it can't be untied.

During the week, the smiling to self continued. I am so conscious of it these days and that makes me think it is happening after a long time. Is it okay to get a surge of love, like blood rushing to the part of brain where love is from time to time. This is triggered by images, people, memories, songs. Oh god, for the first time after watching the film, i watched the song from Mayanadhi and cried from beginning till the end. And my eyes water even as a type.

Had what i call a relapse during work. That is, after the therapy i came home and slept. I was so not used to the heat. This happened yesterday and today as well and inji blasted me. Not as much as she usually does, which is even more dangerous. Silence cuts deeper. So today, i did sleep, but wrote two stories. Intend to do three tomorrow.

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