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.

[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. :-)

[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 ;)

[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.

[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*!

[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 :)