Jimspeak

When someone you know goes and commits an unspeakable act; something unimaginable especially from someone you are close to; how do you react? When you begin to deal with a new outlook on someone close, how do you then deal with other relationships? How do you continue to trust people or try to get close to anyone with the fear in the back (front) of your mind that they may have a switch that will set them off, a switch that will turn them from Dr. Jekyl to the proverbial Mr. Hyde?

Does one continue to trust, or retreat into oneself allowing no closeness with others in fear of seeing this switch or god forbid being the recipient of the ensuing wrath? What's more, do we all have a switch inside us? Do we all have the potential to commit evil and senseless acts?

It's one thing to open up to a person and risk having your heart broken or your feelings hurt. It's another thing completely to open up and end up beaten, dead, raped...whatever. How can you ever really know what a person is capable? Perhaps none of us even knows of what we are capable?

Call me optimistic, but I can't accept such negativity. Sure, not everyone can be trusted and perhaps a bit more awareness and critical observation would not be a bad thing. But if you don't trust anyone, I can't see any result other than a lonely empty life. Maybe I'm naive in some respects, but I can't accept that humans are basically bad (talk to me on another day, perhaps this opinion will be slightly different). If we are, that's a depressing thought that I don't want to deal with (repression is my friend!).

I don't know, gang. It can be a scary world. Really scary, esp if your trust in a loved one can be called into question (trust in terms of physical harm, not the more innocuous harms). However, if life is spent worrying excessively over what could happen, that's a life missed.

(No, this is not drawing on anything in my immediate realm)