Pulling up others' socks

I now know what Sashi Tharoor and the like felt like, when they expressed their views on their blogs. Blogging is a breakthrough medium for the likes of people, who have seen countless rejection slips from publications, simply because what they want to say does not agree with the principle of the publication. One is welcome to access the blog, or simply behave as if it does not exist. But when you do voluntarily reach out to read material in a space which belongs to one single individual, where he or she can voice the opinion they have, I do not think any sane person would think it is an aspersion on their lives!
What I write on my blog are unedited expressions of my impressions of my daily living. And the nature of my profession is such that I go through a variety of intense human emotions through the clients whom I meet anger; anxiety, depression, very low frustration tolerance, and sometimes even denial of the existence of a problem. These are issues which subsist along the spectrum of human relationships and professional though I am in my approach, sometimes when I feel the situation could have been either handled more effectively, (Check out my article: do you have balance) or perhaps avoided altogether, my helplessness shows: not to the people who come in for counseling, but in my outpouring on my blog.
But then, how do you respond to hate mails, generated when someone reads what is written on my blog, decide they are the self-styled moral diagnostic experts of people and conclude that what is written on the blog is the result of a demented, frustrated person, who perhaps may require medical intervention?
What do you think about folks who refuse to accept and admit there are flaws in every social system, and are raving and ranting about it? Playing the blame game only reflects the style of functioning of the person, instead of appraising the situation and doing some out-of-the-box thinking. Just as there have been clients who have been riled because truths hit them, and even though they go ahead and take the steps recommended (as this particular person did, and benefitted from it) they still choose to hide behind a mask, there also have been clients who are profoundly grateful for having been helped in choosing the right track. Unfortunately, they do not visit my blog I think! And I need to thank people who, even through such hate mails invite the mass of humanity to hit my blog!
Is it because my writings touch a raw spot I wonder? And who likes to connect with perhaps the truth of one’s soul? How many of us are able to confront reality and admit that life needs to be reworked? No, no; it is so much easier to blame the other and live in a cosy delusion that someone else needs to pull up socks, not themselves; even though they are wearing them!

Mohana Narayanan
June 21, 2010