Shame

Notes written for the 2011/07/15 meeting of Ways of Knowing on the topic Shame.

It took me some time to warm up to this topic, but I began to see its interest, subtlety, and complexity. From time to time I experienced a strong, general-feeling, and unclear reluctance to look more deeply into the subject.  To me this indicates the subject has emotional depth and was taking me to an "edge."  In fact, the topic itself seems to have a quality of "taboo" about it in the sense that it seems to be something no one likes to talk about.  It's difficult to study shame from the first-person perspective because involves painful emotions.  I recommend trying this, carefully, with a trusted confidante, humor, and a light touch.

Luckily it's easier to talk about it, from a distance and with an intellectual and theoretical style.