Bringing Up Frank

Tales of the Heart's Intimations : V

In rebuilding the identity of the self, the experience is not unlike that of Mary Shelley's ' Frankenstein.' It begins a little haphazardly but then goes through the motions of reasoning, logic and common sense. But the individual is still a bit of the ' Tin Man ' in The Wizard of Oz.

Here's where the individual leaves the seclusion they have been putting themselves in and begins a little socialization. This is not without its difficulties. Every expression from every person encountered is viewed closely to ascertain what they meant.

But more than that .... the individual is learning to give up his/her defenses on a score of issues. There is the royal sense of speaking in a special decorum. And then there's that special sense of ' do people know what a miracle I am?' Then of course there's that fame and adulation that the world may come to confer on account of the incredible experiences the individual has been through and the visions he has seen of humanity.

Getting past all these .... not without a little tug-of-war .... the individual gives up the many justifications they have engendered over the course of their recovery. The passions start to give a little and they are in the most curious way learning to trust again .... even stranger, to love a little. The mind picks it up and administers to it with the usual caution and its own re-invented sense of fairness.

From a flying circus to the experience of the normal and ordinary individual sometimes takes a lifetime, but like the seasons its experienced in a sequence of events that may sometimes be astounding. We know that it has never been done before, that we are at the forefront of a new social and individual awareness. Then we get Frankenstein to figure the math and realize that more may be joining the experience.