Rapunzel

As usual, you make some great points... let it develop.. I like that idea. You brought some things up in your post to consider. Finding commonalities would definately be interesting... it does seem there are some common themes.....

As well, seperating what we did to ourselves from what was done to us could be enlightening.... It might allow us to re-examine how we were treated, what made us feel as we did because of that treatment, how we reacted to those feelings about ourselves and subsequently treated ourselves because of it. Examining the defense mechanisms we used at that age might give us insight into our current personalities and blocks we've built against our progression. I think we might discover, as you suggested, who we are now is an extension of the person we had to be then, but those "survivor skills" are no longer functional or needed.

I'm still pretty occupied with things right now, but if either you or September starts it, I'll follow suit. We could start by printing each others answers and individually drawing comparisons, then post our results. We'd each then be able to compare our comparisons to find the general themes that apply to us all.

For role playing, I would suggest we each take turns being our child self. A short description of our major opponents at that age should give us enough to start with. The othere members in the thread (still anyone welcome) would become that person's antagonist and try to push buttons for the child self and see what responses develop.. Some of us may have several antagonists, but I think it would be best to deal with only one at a time, go around the circle, then begin again with the next antagonist/child... We'd begin our posts with a statement that we're in role playing identity and when we switch back to our real self, likewise make a note of it to avoid confusion. What do you think?

"Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but rising every time we fall." Confucius