AVRUM'S BLOG is hosted and authored by me, Avrum Rosensweig, the founder and president of Ve'ahavta: The Canadian Jewish Humanitarian & Relief Committee. I am also a writer, artist and a father.
AVRUM'S BLOG is here to create a community where people can express wondrous ideas, thoughts, stories and comments. I can do the same.
At AVRUM'S BLOG people can challenge one another, debate and schmooze about humanitarian issues, peace, war, Israel, the Jewish people, slices of life and perceptions.
Please contribute thoughtfully. We are in charge of our world. Let's give it purpose through beautiful, decent, intelligent, raw and intuitive talk and interaction.
B'shalom, Avrum (avrum@veahavta.org) 
You know the kind of shame that starts with a dull throb, like a toothache, and then sends heat radiating through your body like a sudden fever, and finally attains its full force with a sharp, breath-taking sucker-punch to the gut? Yeah, me too. – Joan Ruzsa
March 1, 2010
Categories: Visiting Authors . Tags: Joan Ruzsa, shame . Author: avrum
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Whoa!
Just dropped by to see what condition Avrum’s condition was in and found this little gem.
This is amazing!
Hi Christina,
Thanks for commenting. We’ve never met and yet somehow I feel like I know you.
I used to try to hide all of my bad feelings. I learned from a young age, as I think most of us do, that the most socially acceptable thing is to be “fine”, and to keep the darker parts of ourselves hidden. But I really believe that this kind of thinking leads to a society where people walk around carrying “secret shame”, and it creates social isolation, and a feeling of being uniquely fucked-up.
So when I joined Facebook, I saw it as an opportunity to try to push myself to be more honest about my not-so-pleasant feelings. So my status updates sometimes look like the quote above. There is always a sense of vulnerability when I click “post”. Am I going to be judged? Will people think I’m looking for sympathy? Will they think I’m an over-sharer? Will they, horror of horrors, just think I’m weird?
But my hope is always that even if others don’t want to publicly share their bad feelings, most people will be able to relate and may feel less alone, or find it comforting to hear someone else say it out loud.