I had someone blast me on Twitter last night for the feelings I had about what was going on up in Boston.
It wouldn't be the first time someone has alluded to the fact that what I do for a living should make me feel differently about a person and their behavior.
It wouldn't be the first time someone has tried to shame me for my beliefs.
This kind of thinking annoys the living crap out of me.
There are clients I know many of us come across daily that we can't stand for whatever reason, and populations we KNOW we can't work with.
I don't think it makes me or you any less of a "social worker". In fact, it makes me and you HUMAN.
I am not going to feel bad, or apologize for the way I feel about certain people.
I'm not going to feel bad and pussy-foot around certain people's actions being disgusting and unacceptable.
Yeah, we all know our mental health system is broken, but honestly, I don't think that's always an "excuse".
Some people just do really awful things and all the medication and psychiatrists in the world are not going to change them.
The end.
Everyone has a right to feel whatever feeling that arises. It's not like we really "choose" our feelings. We don't say, "Hey, I want to feel disgusted or angry or disappointed." And if we had complete control over them we'd simply say to ourselves, "You know, I don't want to feel sad or angry or scared right now. I'm going to feel happy instead."
ReplyDeleteMy only caveat is this: While we have the right to feel our emotions we are also obligated to take responsibility for how we respond to them.