There are rare days still I feel exceptionally fragile and I am always somewhat surprised when I learn that someone describes me as a "tough cookie". I do not feel like I am hardened. Not any more.
Years ago it might have been true.
One thing that a narc mother's abuse can do to her child(ren) is that due to constant abuse and gaslighting, they try to get rid of anything that makes them vulnerable. I had a serious problem not trusting my feelings, not allowing myself to feel, and not allowing myself to be vulnerable. I even did not realise that. Sharp tongue, wit, and sarcasm (I later learn that many people who became my friends were initially terrified of me). Took me a while to learn that emotions and feelings are not the same things.
I even had very special therapy (a few years after lots of bad things had happened to me and I started to feel like I am the one attracting violence and abuse; I had no faith in that therapy but eventually decided to give it a chance, a really good decision) where day after day I was put into a state of lucid dreaming and the therapist guided me in my quest for seeking the truth about myself. I had amazing visions, experienced otherwordly and our-worldly places, and met people and animals and mythical creatures. There were also days when I went back to my previous lives (so my therapist claimed). I do not know about that, I myself thought that perhaps I was exploring some deeper levels of the subconscious (lucky for me I wanted to be an explorer when I was a little girl). The messages or gifts I received (sometimes very symbolic in the Aleister Crowley sense) were repeating the earlier ones, the same themes got repeated, and with the help of that therapist, I was able to narrow it down and figure out the main problems I had, and what I had to learn and change.
I also discovered safe places where to go when I feel the need to recharge or regain my balance or meditate. Eventually, I did not feel empty anymore and got rid of my fear of feelings and many other fears and toxic positivity. After all, I had a full world inside me which was more exciting and larger than the real world and I could go there any time. In a way, I learnt who I really was, and how to be honest with myself. Love and gratitude.
The thing is that I love to be lazy when I am given the chance and I did not do all the work I should have. I could continue even now, but I do it very rarely. Over the years I have sometimes visited and spent time in these worlds and some of the elements and places of these worlds also exist in the real world, it can be startling to go someplace new and far away and only discover that you know that place intimately or meet new people and discover that they have lived inside you always. Also, acknowledging your feelings, taking ownership of them and allowing yourself to feel what you feel is liberating. And accepting yourself just as you are. It is hard to describe even. Just everything went into place.
However, life is a process and there are days when I am not so balanced at all but I can regain it quickly. I just sometimes do not care to
Not sure if is curiosity but sometimes I need to see what will happen. If my mother's voice/ghost comes to mock me, it can pain me but I deal with her inside me. Sometimes I see her as a little girl who is very lonely and afraid. She refuses to meet my eyes. Also, if there are days I am feeling sad, then I am sad. My baseline is quiet contentment. So very different from my teenage or early twenties me.
So, I mean that it feels good to feel anger towards Amber (or other people like her). I sometimes feel I need negative feelings as well. (I just never act upon them). I cannot be like my sister who mostly feels love and gratitude. I feel I have a need for other feelings as well from time to time. (Not sure if it makes sense). It makes me feel more me, more whole.
I do not know what would have happened to me or who I would be if I had not met the right people or had not had the courage to try this type of therapy.
One interesting thing followed though, sometimes I am not sure if I like it but then I figure out that in fact, in all honesty, I do not care. Broken people, I mean people who are so broken that they are at odds with themselves and take it out on other people, they cannot tolerate me. My mere existence or presence seems to hurt them and somehow threaten them. I guess they sense that I do not care what they or others think of me. So from time to time, I seem to make enemies with just existing. It can be tiresome.
Thanks to this therapy, I sometimes feel like I have cheated, especially when I see people who struggle or have substance abuse problems.
I also wonder if I am an impostor when my sister or husband or sons or nephews tell me that I am the smartest or wisest person they know. I am quite sure I am not. My sister is the wisest person I know
And some of my dearest friends are too. (Not to mention my boys).
Just had to share it.
As for the morbid/dark humour, I once did anthropological fieldwork in a medical institution as part of a grant and spent 7 months working over there. The morbid humour that most medical professionals possess is awesome. Also the unwritten rules. It is like a whole different civilisation.