Dr. Laura Knouse, clinical psychologist at UR, gave her “last lecture” about the concept that being a person is hard. She discussed human’s psychological tendency to perpetuate upsetting memories despite our efforts to lessen these painful experiences. In other words, we create our own suffering. This is a fundamental, unwindable, human process.
She then went on to talk about the controversial idea that “people are doing that the best that they can.” It is much easier to refer to this grouping as “people” rather than saying I am doing the best that I can. By excluding yourself from this narrative, you are not owning your mistakes. At this point in the lecture, Dr. Knouse became very emotional. She then shared a personal anecdote about her son who has been diagnosed with autism. As a psychologist, Dr. Knouse never thought that she would be able to cope with having a child who is unable to connect on a social level. Fortunately, Dr. Knouse realized that her assumptions of what she needed to live a happy life were wrong. Her son shows his love in his own way, and she has learned that everyone can live a vital life, as long as you show the world that you are a person too.
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