I must start with a disclaimer. This blog post is not intended to encourage suicide. It is intended to deconstruct the construct as it is popularly held. I hope those who read it will find a way to powerfully live instead of believing they are alone in despair.
Many people have thought about offing themselves. Most people won’t talk about these thoughts openly. Also, we have not fostered a society where people are free to talk it through, to process those feelings openly. Frankly, we have not fostered a society where people are treated humanely by any means. See the movie Origin by Ava Duvernay if you want a reset in being.
In some states one can be incarcerated in a mental institution for thinking about it, especially if you say it to someone who can commit a person involuntarily.
I am grateful for the post I saw this morning on Instagram for deconstructing the game when it comes to the idea of suicide. Fundamentally, the way that the church and some other organizations operate like they just don't want to lose those that they exploit is disgusting.
It seems like a revolutionary choice in this framing. At least in one of my early stages of wokeness I thought it was a revolutionary act by those jumping to their death from a vessel of enslavement.
Many experiences kill oppressed people:
Abusive partners
Goon squad police
The biological outcomes of the stress of aggressions (nothing “micro” about them)
And many more
While I will always value and honor the agency of each human, I have to say dying by suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem. The ripple effects of which are more hurtful than one can imagine. I hope that anyone wrestling with this choice reaches out for assistance by calling or texting 988. There are many support systems. As someone beloved to me shared transparently, her community buoyed her beyond those thoughts. I hope you have a community like hers and mine.
Instead of continuing to gaslight us away from our humanity by encouraging toughness and working like a mule, we can do better to foster a more humane existence for ourselves. Democratic existence is a group project after all. Let’s not take our PMO (Project Management Organization – governance organization) lightly. Let’s learn to do sustainable transformation.
Burning it all down and murder is the epitome of pridefulness. They are permanent solutions to a transformable issue. We do need a humane society for humans.