Written and published on 7 August 2022
Location: Los Angeles, California

Image: Snowflakes, posted to flickr by Paul Jerry, in Wikimedia Commons … https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Snow-00.jpg … CC BY 2.0

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Dear Ones.

I just watched the bittersweet film “White Bird in a Blizzard.” It is about how we do not always know people all that well; they may have tragic twists and turns in their personalities that are hidden from us. The film has a surprise ending …

Video: White Bird in a Blizzard Official Trailer #1 (2014) – Shailene Woodley, Eva Green Movie HD,” by Rotten Tomatoes Trailers, 21 August 2014 … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7D1W_aH72-g ..

I recommend viewing “White Bird in a Blizzard,” not so much for its having to do with family members (as in the movie) but more to help assess people we meet in the street, at work, while socializing, and so on. As the theme song in the “Monk” TV series used to opine, “It’s a jungle out there!”

Of course, there are good, sincere, truthful people out there in the world, just like you and me. But there are also people who are prone to violence when stressed. It is up to us to figure out which is which.

The trouble comes about when we assume that everyone had the same upbringing as we did. For instance, I had a normal, simple upbringing with emphasis on Christian and family values and on the work ethic.

What do I assume, then, when I meet people? I make the problematical assumption that they had a similar upbringing … but maybe they did not! According to WebMD, personality disorders affect 15 percent of Americans …

Link: “Personality Disorders Affect 15% of Americans,” by Jeanie Lerche Davis, 4 August 2004 … https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/news/20040804/personality-disorders-affect-15-of-americans#:~:text=Antisocial%20personality%20disorder%20affects%204,with%20little%20income%20or%20education. ..

According to the same source, 4 percent of Americans have antisocial personality disorder, and do not care at all about other people. They may behave violently towards other people, and feel no remorse whatsoever.

I ask you: What if we ‘normals’ shake hands with one of these implacably violent, remorseless antisocial personalities? Will we figure we’re meeting the boy or girl next door? Or will see beyond their social mask?

Image: “Mosaic of the Theatrical Masks,” by unknown author, 2nd century AD, in Wikimedia Commons … https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mosaic_of_the_theatrical_masks_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg … public domain

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By way of consolation, I have this to offer: The antisocial personality … the person with deep Soul wounding because of catastrophic childhood experiences … will, likely as not, have the same problem when he or she shakes hands with you.

Likely as not, he will assume you are just like him … a violence-prone individual. If he sees what he might term ‘milk toast’ or ‘puppy dog love’ or ‘plain vanilla’ qualities in you, then he will figure there has been an error in your upbringing.

With a little more schooling in the criminal arts, he may opine, you will step on out there and dare to be just like dashing, devil-may-care, highly antisocial he (or she)!

Go figure!

These, then are the shark-infested social waters in which we swim. This is all the more true for those perceived by the sharky predator to be weaker sorts of people.

That is why I have a special request today: I ask the many fine and noble men among us … hale and hearty men who have had a ‘normal’ upbringing … to keep a sharp lookout for the welfare of our children, our women, and our senior citizens.

In these times of social unrest, noble sirs, it falls on your shoulders to protect the weak and helpless among us from the 4 percent of Americans who are antisocial personalities.

In love, light and joy,
Alice B. Clagett
I Am of the Stars

For more on this theme, see my blog categories: Acting out – violent behavior – Ahimsa – nonviolence  …  Antisocial personality disorder – Sociopathy … Soul wounding – Soul clearing – core star energy  … and …  Catastrophic childhood experiences (and its subcategories)

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movie reviews by Alice, antisocial personality, White Bird in a Blizzard, acting out, violence,