A co-worker once said "Thank you for your transparency." For a moment I thought it was a backhanded compliment. Then I realized that she meant it in the modern usage our President refers to in transparent government. So instead of the "You're so transparent!" insult of my adolescence she was affirming my ability to teach through sharing my process and my thinking. It wasn't until later that I realized the more long-term gift she had given me: to re-claim previous insults as affirmations about my true self.
Like the GLBT community reclaiming the term "queer" in the 80's and 90's. They decided it was only derogatory because they had given it that power. If they reclaimed it as an all-encompassing term for anyone in this quite varied community as celebration of who they were they could decide it was positive.
What insults, judgments, or derogatory comments can you re-claim as affirmations?
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