Do you ever....?
Do you ever catch yourself doing this....??
I notice in my writing I tend to put quotes around many things. Sometimes it’s necessary, like when I am quoting a person or a common saying or phrase…but as I look back, I see times where I used “quotes” to undermine my feelings, or to hide what I am really feeling from others. Basically I use “quotes” to protect my real feelings. Example: I notice I keep saying my “RECOVERY” à like, I am embarrassed I had a problem, and am in recovery. Quoting it, makes it sound less real. I even had to stop myself right then from quoting this word as I wrote it again, haha.
I also use certain other WORDS to do the same—like saying “often”, “maybe”, “possibly” “could be”, etc—instead of just stating, “I feel ______” or “I am ________”. I am also finding myself again doing this by talking in the past tense—for example, saying, “I was feeling” instead of “I am feeling”. I need to try to work on this—because all these “quotations” and other words are just me holding back from my real feelings—me real self.