This feels familiar to me in the sense of being viewed as a gifted child. My parents were very supportive of me in my musical (and non-musical) endeavors. But some of us peak early, and then have a hard time figuring out who we really are and what our purpose on earth is, after we grow up and become just one of the many and not particularly special or “successful.”
I will check out this book. Thanks for the thoughtful review. (And now I’m a subscriber)
It's a masterpiece. A main theme from the book is that because of this unseen trauma we're living Groundhog's day every day but we can't see the pattern for what it is: Us trying to meet our unmet childhood needs through defective means like people pleasing, codependency, mental health struggles, low self esteem. Etc. But by aligning yourself with that alienated child... you start healing. The gifted child is praised conditionally. It creates a sense of worthlessness that one cannot easily shake in adulthood.
For better or worse, social media exacerbates the problems. Instant gratification, social acceptance, creating manufactured reality and everything that entails, makes it harder to shake free. But I do think that the technologic acceleration has led to fatigue which is pushing people back to a craving for authenticity. I think this is largely a good explanation of why Substack is blowing up.
This feels familiar to me in the sense of being viewed as a gifted child. My parents were very supportive of me in my musical (and non-musical) endeavors. But some of us peak early, and then have a hard time figuring out who we really are and what our purpose on earth is, after we grow up and become just one of the many and not particularly special or “successful.”
I will check out this book. Thanks for the thoughtful review. (And now I’m a subscriber)
It's a masterpiece. A main theme from the book is that because of this unseen trauma we're living Groundhog's day every day but we can't see the pattern for what it is: Us trying to meet our unmet childhood needs through defective means like people pleasing, codependency, mental health struggles, low self esteem. Etc. But by aligning yourself with that alienated child... you start healing. The gifted child is praised conditionally. It creates a sense of worthlessness that one cannot easily shake in adulthood.
For better or worse, social media exacerbates the problems. Instant gratification, social acceptance, creating manufactured reality and everything that entails, makes it harder to shake free. But I do think that the technologic acceleration has led to fatigue which is pushing people back to a craving for authenticity. I think this is largely a good explanation of why Substack is blowing up.