NoJoMo 27 in Book Five: Working Through the Maze 2018

NoJoMo 27 Prompt 1: Write about pain you have inflicted on someone else.

NoJoMo 27 Answer 1: I’m sure there is pain of immense and amazing depth that I’ve caused to others. But the truth is… when considering the pain I may have caused others… I only see three faces.
Aoife… I disappointed her and let her down many times before becoming mature enough to really know who I was and what I wanted in this world.
Aku… I hurt her by rejecting her and demanding my safety. And yes, that is true. By protecting myself, I hurt her. Though it needed to happen. And that is a thing I wish I could give people. TOO MANY people refuse to protect themselves in Abusive Toxic Relationships because they know it will hurt the other person… I even had a friend once explain to me that they couldn’t leave their mean-spirited, hate-filled, abusive girlfriend because “I tried once, and she tried to kill herself.” The truth is… I experienced that, too. And as much as it pushes against our concepts of “Giving, Self-Sacrifice, and Service” sometimes… honestly… YOU need to put yourself OVER someone else. It will hurt them. They might commit suicide. But don’t take that on. In a toxic abusive manipulative relationship… it is “the last manipulation.” It is their final attempt to make sure they stay a part of your life forever and you can’t let them have that power over you.
The last one is Keith. I broke his leg in three places. But that is definitely a more literal pain.

NoJoMo 27 Prompt 2: If you could have dinner with anyone currently alive, who would it be? What would you talk about?

NoJoMo 27 Answer 2: GOSH… that is… fucking tough. Because I wouldn’t want to pick one person. I would want to do a Dinner Party that turned into a Cause Gathering.
I’d invite Neil deGrasse Tyson, Brian Cox, Kamala Harris, Shepard Smith, Anderson Cooper, John Oliver… bring in some brains and some politics and some media and start working on strategies to actually FIX things. Because… not that I’m surprised… but The United States Government saying “Climate Change is real, it is going to cost lives, it is going to cost billions of dollars. It is almost too late. SOMEONE DO SOMETHING!” has been met with The President of the United States saying “I don’t believe it.” DUDE?! DUDE?! This is YOUR OWN GOVERNMENT saying in a non-partisan way “Maybe prevent a potential global catastrophe” and you’re reacting to it as though someone asked you what you think about the Loch Ness Monster!