Of course, that which does not kill us can also leave a hell of a lot of
scar tissue.
There is a difference between clean pain, which suffering can lead to real
growth however much later in life (also grow the ability compassionately to
identify with others, even if we probably never would have chosen the
experience, as with illness), and pain which keeps twisting and scarring,
like Jay's analysis of the double bind.
L*
***************************************
Susan Leigh Star
address until January 15, 1998:
539 Summit Drive
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
Phone: (408) 454-9218 (h) (408) 454-0965 (w)
FAX: (217) 244-3302 email: s-star1 who-is-at uiuc.edu
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In speaking of lies, we come inevitably to the subject of the truth. There
is nothing simple or easy about this idea. There is no 'the truth,' 'a
truth' -- truth is not one thing, or even a system. It is an increasing
complexity. The pattern of the carpet is a surface. When we look closely,
or when we become weavers, we learn of the tiny multiple threads unseen in
the overall pattern, the knots on the underside of the carpet.
That is why the effort to speak honestly is so important."
--Adrienne Rich. (1979). "Women and honor: Some notes on lying, In her
On Lies, Secrets and Silence: Selected Prose, 1966-1978 (pp. 185-194).
New York: Norton.