Ian On The Red Dot

There are days when you get careless. You let your mind and thoughts wander down a particular road. You start seeing the world through cracked lenses - everything good fades into the background, every mistake, every transgression takes center-stage.

You don’t want to be ungrateful. You don’t want to be angry.

Yet you can’t help it.

The gates open and every demon, every raw twisted emotion is unleashed.

You start making distinctions to justify the turmoil in your heart.

Doing your duty is different from making sacrifices.

Inconveniencing yourself is different from making sacrifices.

You scream - you cannot abdicate your responsibilities by emotional blackmail.

You cannot say we’ve been spoiled and a better child would be less demanding.

You cannot be the one demanding more from us.

You can actually. But if we meet those expectations or even exceed it, you cannot turn around and say we have no right to not walk in step with you anymore when we are ahead.

We should both expect better from each other. We should be iron that sharpen iron.

But you chose us, we didn’t choose you. The onus is for you to lead. Be our leaders. Our mentors. Don’t demand our respect. Earn it.

Yes, we are older. Maybe even more mature. That does not mean we must pander to your emotional needs.

That sadness is something we all must bear.

Ze Frank has a new project where he is asking for contributions about the first moments when we realized our parents were weak and human.

The link to the page and comments are here.

I wanted to contribute something, but I didn’t know where to start.

The thing is, the relationship with my parents have been complex. It comes to a point where there are times you don’t know how you feel about them.

I am my father’s son. For some people, that is one of their life’s goals. For others, it is the scariest thought.

Today has been ruined.