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Dec 12, 2022·edited Dec 12, 2022Liked by Holly Elmore

I dont except you to answer this. But are you sure you really say what you want without subconciously filtering your reply to be less conflict evoking? And in say random street encounters in those split moments where you feel someone is of a total different mindset about just about everything you dont say whatever controversial thing? Because if you really dont do this im surprised you havent been in many a bust up physically and verbally. As alot of the socially unrestrained ive seen out in the street often do. As an example, i see people i instantly negatively judge in no way am i tempted to say what i want to ask them or question them because im porgrammed not to be anti social to that degree. The people who are tend to end up in fights. This just social psych 101.

Or perhaps ive mistaken part of what you've said and you only mean with interactions with people in your social sphere. In that case once you may be blessed in that you have very emotionally tolerant friends. I dont think people really speak thier true thoughts most of the time due to social psychology, and the negative emotional avoidance. So its interesting how you think you've overcome this. Because if i can be the bold one, honest one and controversial one in a statement - i dont believe it.

I feel getting it all out there and having the confidence to say whatever you'd like is only something i could ever write on a suicide note.

"What is Man? A miserable little pile of secrets." - Andre Malraux

Edit for grammar

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Jan 14, 2023Liked by Holly Elmore

I wish you posted more! I imagine you have a lot to do and maybe you post primarily in other forums.

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Dec 12, 2022Liked by Holly Elmore

Really enjoyed this piece, Holly. I identify with being the “confident know-it-all” and I’ve become comfortable with it, but not as much as you. It gave me flashbacks to a middle school birthday party I wasn’t invited to because the host was afraid I would correct everything they say. Obviously that’s your point about tact, and I was just a kid, but incidents like that definitely led me to repress myself during late adolescence. It sounds like you might have had a similar period.

I’m not familiar with your mental illness, but I had a pretty severe depression during college. I wonder after reading this, maybe it was due to not allowing myself to be who I really am.

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In weirdly authoritarian moral times like these, people mistake what you think for who you are. Many people therefore adopt group-permitted viewpoints in order to be comfortable in their skin. Then they mistake people who don’t do that as not their kind of people. This is one of the saddest aspects of the modern condition.

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