Imprisoned — 1986 Poem

Published March 22, 2017 by Nan Mykel

IMPRISONED

Touch the little bugs in the garden

and they roll into tight balls.

The possum plays dead to the world,

and the turtle hides inside his cell.

And the man? Somebody is

in need of help, but he sits

there daring you to help,

a tough guy, inmate, con,

you name it.

His mama’s baby boy. But he

don’t need no help. Just sits

there, indifferent, on his bunk,

tough guy, all alone

in the crowded dorm.

His mama’s baby boy; tough

turtle doing troubled time.

Hopeless Still. Trying Still.

Published March 20, 2017 by Nan Mykel

We’re here with you!

The Most Important Post You Will Read This Week: Re-blog of re-blog (sort of)

Published March 20, 2017 by Nan Mykel

Diane Ravitch's blog

I will not post anything again for a while today, unless there is breaking news. You need time to read this article in full.

It is a long article by Jane Mayer of the New Yorker, who has written major books about the dark money fueling rightwing politics.

The article is an in-depth analysis of the role of billionaire Robert Mercer and his daughter Rebekah in the creation of the Trump presidency.

It is a long read. It is an important read, to understand the threat to our democracy posed by the power of unaccountable billionaires.

It is fascinating, like watching a car crash, in this case, a political tragedy.

It begins with the shocking news that Patrick Caddell, who long ago was a pollster for Jimmy Carter, is now helping Trump behind the scenes.

Then it gets into the life and personality and actions of Robert Mercer, a…

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Therapists must stop peddling “Recovery” as a Holy Grail-Re-blog

Published March 20, 2017 by Nan Mykel

Hope some therapists are following your blog! I’m re-blogging.

Talking of incest

Dear Friends

Do you sometimes feel frustrated with your Therapist? I’m sorry to say that, in a selfish way, I hope you can relate to this little story.

I’m looking for a new therapist and I had an initial phone call with a woman who presented on the internet as experienced and wise. I explained that I was 57 and that my father began the sexual abuse when I was 6. I was inviting her to recognise that I had survived for over half a century. I explained that I had experienced numerous therapists; and that I had made progress with them in working through different aspects of my life. I explained to this wise woman that I do best when I have a long-term relationship with a therapist with whom I can do pieces of work whenever the need arises. I explained that I generally do okay but at 57…

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Have we forgotten? A Lucky otters re-blog

Published March 18, 2017 by Nan Mykel

Truer today than ever.

Lucky Otters Haven

Wise words from a Republican:

“Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.
This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children…
This is not a way of life at all, in any true sense. Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron.”

–Dwight D. Eisenhower, US President, 1953 -1961

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INITIAL PREFACE TO “FALLOUT,” 13 years ago

Published March 16, 2017 by Nan Mykel

PREFACE — I was 65 when struck by the idea of writing this book. If I fail to write it now, at 68, the book will never happen. I will have lost the chance to say some things which I believe are important from my vantage as former victim, former treater of incarcerated sex offenders, former treater of survivors, and as the product of years of quality psychotherapy and analysis.

I’m going to write as though the reader is female because that seems most natural to me, but much if not all of this book applies equally to males, and to both victims who became law abiding citizens and those who went on to become molesters themselves.

Society seems to either be in denial about the actual damage resulting from sexual abuse or to blow it out of proportion–to portray child sexual abuse as worse than murder, for instance. I endorse neither approach.

It’s a confusing, complex world, and grabbing hold of a stable purchase from which to perceive it is especially difficult for those whose most precious boundaries have been trampled, often by those who think they love us. Perspective is a continuing problem for me, at 68. It will be, forever. We aren’t crazy. We’re scrambled.