Interesting thought, not where I'm going with it

[randomling]

Reading someone's long thinky-thoughts article about "the stigma of mental health" and the realities behind it, and I wonder to myself: why don't I write long thinky-thoughts articles about the issues that are important to me?

Partial answer: because I don't feel I have any opinions that are really "mine" (they all seem "borrowed" or absorbed from what other people think).

Partial rebuttal: aren't a lot of people's opinions based on reading or hearing what others think and developing their own opinions, either in agreement or contradiction?

Partial rebuttal to the rebuttal: Yes, but I feel like I could do better on a) doing my own research and fact-finding b) figuring out what I really think in response to other people's opinions c) not rushing to agree with everyone because fail-brain thinks I have to appease everyone or they will hate/attack me*.

What I guess I need: To figure out how to do a) and b), with an eye on mental health because seeking out facts about the upsetting things is likely to, duh, upset me, and with the corollary that b) is somewhat dependent on c) and c) is hard to fix in isolation.

What I might also need: Reassurance that I am not alone in having these kinds of struggles, stories about having, negotiating and learning about opinions, pictures of wombats or cats, hugs.

What I definitely don't need: Advice or opinions on How To Form Opinions (there is a whole extra thing of issues here about when people actually tell me what to do/think, I get grumpy).


*NB: I know this last is logic-free, it's a relic of my childhood which needs kicking in the arse if I could only figure out how.

Comments

[sperrywink]

Good luck sorting out your thoughts and research. I must admit I have not formulated my thoughts either. Mostly because it touches on a bunch of stuff I hate poking at.

[randomling]

Yes, I know the feeling! (And this is true for many topics, not just mental health...)

Thank you for the luck! ♥

[capri0mni]

A) You are not alone.

B) I did a Google image search for "Wombat," to see if I remembered correctly what they looked like (Being north of the equator, I don't see images of them very often). ...You're right, they do help. So: here. :-)

[randomling]

Awww, that is the very cutest wombat! Thank you!

And thank you, too, for reminding me I'm not alone.

[capri0mni]

I thought so, too -- you could file that Joey under both "Cutest" and "Squeeful"

And you are more than welcome. We all need that reminder, now and then.

[randomling]

♥

Yes, indeed! Wombat joeys are the best thing ever. :D

[davidgillon]

Definitely not alone. Though it's definitely do-able, the idea of me having opinions to the point of doing media stuff would have seemed risible back in 2008-ish, but there I was being interviewed on local news re disability hate crime just a couple of years later. The media stuff remains difficult, I've not done any interviews in a couple of years (mostly because I felt we needed different anecdotes about hate on the street than mine), but I'm still actively blogging about disability issues (three pieces in the last week after a long drought due to health and family stuff).

there is a whole extra thing of issues here about when people actually tell me what to do/think, I get grumpy

Definitely not alone there either ;)

[randomling]

Thank you, that's very interesting! This is making me want to go and find some resources on critical thinking and figuring out opinions. (I have a working brain, and I don't think I know nothing about critical thinking, but I need something a bit more comprehensive than "spot the logical fallacy", I think...)

And I'm glad I'm not alone on the being told what to do thing! :D

[purplecat]

I frequently have a thinky-thought, consider blogging about it, decide someone else has probably already said it better and then write a Doctor Who review instead.

[randomling]

Ha! Me too, except exchange "post nothing at all" for the Doctor Who review.

I really ought to find something to post about.

[purplecat]

I suspect I have more spoons available than you do. Hence the ability to spend them writing Doctor Who reviews as displacement activity.

[randomling]

...yeah, good point. Stupid mutiple chronic illnesses. :D

[elanya]

I have a lot of the same issues, plus I have a lack of time in which to try and organize my thoughts, plus I generally feel like I'm yelling into a void on the internet and thus have trouble marshaling the energy for little return :p

So, no opinions, only *hugs*!

[randomling]

Thank you for the hugs!

And yes, I know the feeling - I don't post very much and then get into the habit of thinking that no one really cares whether I post or not and... vicious cycle, etc.

Opinions are hard.

[withagreatlove]

Ha, this is so meta. But meanwhile, you *could* have written your thoughts :)
I can relate though - often All The Good Ideas seem to be taken, but such is life and we all stand on the shoulders of giants, thank God :)

[randomling]

*grin* Meta is kind of what I do! Or rather, when I'm posting at all there tends to be a lot of investigating my own headspace.

And that's actually a really useful perspective shift - obviously there are no truly original ideas, we're all building on something that's gone before. I suspect this is partly a brainweasel issue, but I think there's also a point somewhere around here about figuring out not only how to figure out what I think but how to both stand my ground when I want to and negotiate the experience of "that's a good point, maybe I need to change my mind" without feeling like I have disappeared somewhere in the middle of that.