“Courage is not having the strength to go on; it is going on when you don't have the strength.”

- Theodore Roosevelt

In our one-on-ones (things that I am generally bad at turning into "here is my status" meetings), Luke started asking weird questions that confused me, mostly in the sense they seemed to come out of the far left field (for the record, I'm still unsure which side is the left field, though I'm fairly certain it's the third base line).

When I asked something to the effect of "WTF?" he explained they were from the Better 1:1 program series. It's a group of emails sent to a lead and to a team (sometimes slightly different formats), designed to give the entire group insight into team dynamics, items to talk about in the one-on-ones, and ways to gain insights into areas employees may not be able to talk about directly.

Cool. I love this idea. I signed up for myself and myself-as-a-team.

What a sad, sad state of the world that men are not allowed to cry, that men have to reject crying episodes by attacking anyone who asks about them, that crying is considered weak instead of an expression of deep, deep pain.

What a sad state of self that crying is considered shameful, that the healthy release of frustration and sorrow and pain should be hidden, that a natural response to grief should be suppressed in this culture.

THIS.

http://everythingsstupid.net/?webcomic1=the-eternal-beatdown

There is something comforting about being an expert on a topic (as long as said topic is not yourself, and even then I would suggest very few of us are actually experts on ourselves).