9 ways to tell if the victim blog you read is run by a narcissist.

Posted on June 30, 2019 by luckyotter

Originally posted on January 9, 2017

hiding_mask

The Internet is a great thing for a lot of reasons, but for victims of narcissistic abuse, it’s probably the first time in our lives we ever had a voice, and would be listened to and believed. There are hundreds and probably even thousands of blogs and websites for people who have been victims of narcissistic abuse, either by their families, or at the hands of an abusive spouse, boss, lover, or friend.

The Internet has given us a voice, so now we can not only read and comment on the stories of others who have suffered similar experiences, we can also start our own blogs where we can talk about our own abuse. Before the Internet, who would listen to us, much less believe us? More than likely, we’d be told, “oh, of course your mother/father loves you,” or “Oh, I’m…

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How Being Sad, Depressed And Anxious Online Became Trendy

Posted on June 30, 2019 by luckyotter

I’ve definitely noticed this trend. I’m guilty of it too.

Please comment on the original post.

WebInvestigator.KK.org - by F. Kaskais

How Being Sad, Depressed And Anxious Online Became Trendy

Social media personas built on the illusion of happy, perfect lives are so tired. In 2019, it’s all about being Sad Online.

BY JESS JOHO

“Trendy” emotional distress on social media is part of many must-follow accounts across all platforms. Whether by retweeting the depressing relatability of the So Sad Today Twitter account (at 855,000 followers as of this writing) or commenting the obligatory “same” on a MyTherapistSays Instagram post (currently at 3.6 million). As recently immortalized by a Tim Robinson sketch in I Think You Should Leave, even if you do post pictures where you look cute and happy, it must be accompanied by a self-deprecating caption.

The era of being Sad Online is defined by a sense of reverse FOMO, a tacit agreement to redefine being cool on the internet through JOMO (the Joy of Missing Out) — then file it under social anxiety. It’s possible, though…

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Two kinds of stealth trolls

Posted on June 9, 2019 by luckyotter

I think it’s relevant to post this again, since we spend so much time online these days. These are trolls that hide in the shadows. Be on guard against them.

Lucky Otters Haven

In two earlier posts I wrote about online bullies and trolls (not exactly the same thing, but close enough). I won’t explain here how they differ and are the same (you can read the articles which I’ve posted links at the end of this article), but I neglected to mention stealth trolls. Stealth trolls seem benign, but can wreak havoc on web forums and social media. I will describe two types of stealth trolls. There are probably others.

The Concern Troll

The Urban Dictionary defines a concern troll as:

A person who posts on a blog thread, in the guise of “concern,” to disrupt dialogue or undermine morale by pointing out that posters and/or the site may be getting themselves in trouble, usually with an authority or power. They point out problems that don’t really exist. The intent is to derail, stifle, control, the dialogue. It is viewed as insincere…

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How Social Media Affects Your Mental Health (guest post)

Posted on March 29, 2019 by luckyotter

How Social Media Affects Your Mental Health

Guest Post by Daniela McVicker

We live in a time where social media has taken over our everyday lives. Both older and younger generations constantly use their phones to communicate with friends and family, as well as entertain themselves — and social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter are playing a very important role in all of these actions.

While social media can help connect people, improve information sharing, and provide hours of entertainment, there are also many negative aspects connected with their usage. Famous people can promote unhealthy standards which an average person would never be able to achieve and sustain. Taking this into consideration, here are some of the ways in which social media can affect your mental health.

It Can Promote Interaction and Create Friendships.

For people who are lonely, the internet can provide them with a social circle they most likely don’t have in real life. As social media is concentrated around accounts which promote certain types of content, it is a lot easier to find other people with similar likes and interests.

Coming in contact with people who share your interests can help you feel more confident about your choices and help improve your mood. Talking about things you enjoy and learning interesting things from people with similar tastes will certainly help your mental state improve.

While the internet can limit face-to-face contacts between people, it can help those who are lonely feel like they belong and help them have someone to talk to when they need it. While many online friendships and relationships don’t allow people to meet in real life, it is still a great opportunity for human interaction for people who are shy, ill, or home-bound.

It Can Also Make Users Feel Isolated.

At the same time though, no matter how many friends someone has online, they cannot really replace the experience of having real-life friends to spend time with. Online friendship is limited by the distance the screens create between the users, and even though you can Skype and call the other person easily, you are still not actually spending physical time together.

This can make a social media user feel isolated and even feel like they’re not worthy of having real-life friends. The reality is that for most people, opening up to a stranger online is much easier than striking up a conversation with someone in an everyday life scenario.

A good way to view online friendships is as an opportunity for improving your social skills and finding new ways to strike up a conversation with people who have similar interests to you in everyday life. Since you won’t have the pressure of replying to the other person immediately, you will be able to teach yourself how to pick your words better and be more social in an easier way. This will definitely help boost your mental health.

It Can Make Users Compare Themselves to Unrealistic Images.

Another reason why social media can affect a person’s mental health is that almost every platform tends to support and promote unrealistic images of perfection. Social media influencers have become very popular in our day and time and are loved, supported and followed by millions of users.

Platforms such as Instagram tend to present users with social media influencers who always look perfect, use the most expensive beauty and clothing items, and appear to just be living a dream life. The reality is that their lives are not as perfect as they appear to be online.

For example, most of the pictures people post on social media have been retouched or altered so that the users hide their own imperfections from the world. Or they only post their very best pictures or the ones that make it look as if their lives are perfect: perfect family, lots of friends, always looking perfect, etc. For younger generations that have not yet come to terms with the fact that what they see online may not be what the person is really like or what their life is really like, this can have devastating consequences on their self image.

This can affect their mental health negatively by making them obsessed with chasing an image that does not really reflect reality. Working towards self-improvement is a great thing, but setting achievable and realistic goals is most important for one’s mental and physical well-being.

It Can Provide a Source of Support in Difficult Situations

Have you ever wondered if there are other people out there that might be going through a similar situation as you? Whether that has to do with a chronic illness, a relationship issue, or anything else that you might think of, the internet is bound to provide you with a forum on social media platforms targeted toward people who struggle with the same issue you do.

A great example is a Facebook group for people who want to support each other and get support on their weight loss journeys. Not only are they great sources of education for the people struggling with losing weight, but they also provide the participants with a social circle which will always be there to support them and help them keep moving on their weight loss journeys.

No matter what the issue, being part of a supportive online community can help the person improve themselves while also improving their mental health. Finding people who go through the same problems as you is very difficult or even impossible in day-to-day life, so the online support group can give them the motivation they need to feel better and start improving themselves and the way they view the world around them.

The Bad and the Good of Social Media Platforms.

While social media platforms tend to promote unrealistic images and set high expectations for their users, they can also offer a plethora of benefits. There are many people out there who are lonely or isolated and can benefit greatly from feeling like they are part of a group and have some online friends they can talk to when things are rough.

Social media platforms can affect users’ mental health both positively and negatively but in most cases, this effect is related to the personality of the user as well as the way they use their social media accounts.

****

Daniela McVicker is an editor for Topwritersreview. She is also an experienced writer with a degree in social psychology from Durham University. Daniela is primarily focused on writing about self-improvement. She has authored a number of insightful and motivating articles like “Making The Right Choices Every Day” and “7 Steps To Open Yourself To New Opportunities & Possibilities”.

Why Twitter has made me a better writer.

Posted on December 22, 2018 by luckyotter

Twitter has made me a better writer.

I’ve always been a good writer (my teachers always told me so). To me it’s not work, it’s pleasure. I write largely for the fun of it. English composition was always my best subject in high school, and creative writing comes to me naturally. Always has. So it’s no surprise that I wound up with a career in medical editing and (technical) writing for several years until I started a family. It wasn’t exactly creative writing, but it was still writing, and therefore enjoyable to me.

Off and on throughout my life, I’ve dabbled in creative writing: fictional stories, fanciful memoirs, imaginative prose, all kinds of descriptive writing, poetry, and even a novel I refuse to show anyone and today sits in a rotting cardboard box in the back of a closet. And today, of course, I blog.

In college I really enjoyed my creative writing class and made high grades, but my professor had one big problem with my writing: my tendency to use “purple prose.”

Purple prose is overwrought writing. My sentences used to be overly long, way too descriptive, and filled with a lot of unnecessary adjectives and adverbs, and flowery, overwrought descriptions.

If I could have written the perfectly serviceable sentence, “A black cat jumped over the fence,” I’d write something like this instead:

A lithe feline creature as dark as a starless midnight, so dark its fur absorbed every color that might have surrounded it, virtually shape-shifted its grace-infused body into a spread eagle form and effortlessly soared over the wooden obstacle that no other creature could have breached without seriously injuring itself.

What the hell was that all about? A cat jumping over a fence or some supernatural shapeshifting thing? It’s hard to tell for sure.

I think my point is clear. Publishers and editors hate purple prose, but it is fun to write. It’s just that no one else wants to read it. Why use 100 words to make the same point that can be made in 10? Purple prose is also often emotionally overwrought and a bit nausea inducing. You can write the simple sentence, “her face crumpled and she began to weep silently” but a purple prose writer might write something more like:

Rivers of clear, salty tears poured from her Caribbean colored eyes (made even more deep turquoise when they were puddled with tears), and as they made their journey, they traced the fine lines of age just beginning to etch themselves into her cheeks, then divided into smaller rivers, and finally into streams, creeks, and small brooks before they finally dripped off the precipice of her chiseled, bony chin and splashed onto the bodice of her magenta velvet dress, and sat there, like clear glass beads, rather than being absorbed by the fabric.

Ugh. The simple sentence somehow has more emotional impact and doesn’t make you gag.

There’s nothing wrong with simple writing that doesn’t use a lot of big descriptive words and gets right to the point. Good writing has more to do with the way you string sentences, paragraphs, and ideas together, not how long and descriptive you can make a sentence.

If you enjoy writing long, flowery, descriptive passages, that’s great, but your writing probably won’t get read. That kind of writing went out of style about 100 years ago. That’s why novels written in the 18th and 19th centuries are so wordy and descriptive. Classic novels can go on for ten pages about the physical attributes of a single room or even a piece of furniture. Back then, people weren’t always rushed and they actually enjoyed reading extremely descriptive writing. Today it’s all about the action and the dialogue. Today (unfortunately or not), a novel that starts off describing a single object or a person’s face over several pages would go into the slush pile.

Twitter cured me of my tendency to write purple prose. Many people think of Twitter as shallow because how meaningful can you make a tweet that can only contain 280 characters? (It used to be worse: until a year or so ago, you were limited to 140!). And to some extent, that’s true. On Twitter, there’s a lot of cotton candy in prose form: shallow “ideas” or strings of words with no nutritive value for your soul or your mind. But there are also brilliant tweets that contain more meaning and depth than an entire book. Think of some of the most famous and profound quotes you have ever heard. They tend to be quite short, don’t they? Sometimes just a few words. But they are remembered, and used for decades or even centuries after they were first uttered. Twitter is a virtual quote factory, if you can bushwack your way through all the fibrous, sugary fluff that obscures the meaty, nutritious stuff.

And if you really, truly need to make your point in more than 280 characters, you can always thread a series of tweets together. It’s very easy to learn how to do this (though Twitter addict Donald Trump, not too surprisingly, appears to not have mastered this skill). Each tweet stands on its own, but is connected to the other tweets in your thread, making an entire article. Being limited to 280 characters for each tweet within a thread makes it virtually impossible to write run on paragraphs which can make your writing boring and hard to comprehend. Many tweet threaders number their tweets so there’s no question about what order you’re supposed to read them in.

Writing good tweets that have actual meaning (or are uproariously funny) is an art form and a discipline. If you write good tweets, they tend to get retweeted by others a lot. People recognize a good tweet when they read one. They are relatable, meaningful, and either very true, very funny, or very profound. They never use lots descriptive words because they can’t. Forced brevity tends to enhance the message you are trying to get across. It’s all about the meat and bones of an idea, with all the fat trimmed off.

So, because of Twitter, I have learned to write my ideas or observations without the fat and gristle that could obscure my message. This has improved my writing in general, and now whenever I read over a post I just wrote, any purple or overly descrptive prose sticks out like blobs of gristle hanging off a pork roast and immediately get sliced off. At first it was hard to do, but over time it gets a lot easier.

If you’re a writer, don’t knock Twitter. Expressing an idea using a very limited number of words works wonders for your writing, especially if you are like me and tend to be too wordy or descriptive.

*****

Further reading:

Is Your Prose Too Purple? (includes a test to find out if your prose needs to go on a diet)

If you’ve lost views recently due to loss of StumbleUpon, try Pinterest!

Posted on August 25, 2018 by luckyotter

StumbleUpon, which was bringing me an insane number of views every day (who knew it had that much influence?) recently folded and changed their name to “Mix.” I don’t like Mix. I find it confusing, impossible to understand or to use, not to mention the aggravation of creating a custom sharing icon for it.

Why are things that work perfectly well always getting “improved”? If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it! It’s so frustrating and infuriating!

But I think I found a solution, or at least a partial solution. I already had a Pinterest account from way back when I started this blog (or maybe even before?), but never used it and never bothered sharing anything to it. Pinterest seemed kind of pointless as far as social media platforms go, just a bunch of pictures with links on them. But really, that’s all SU ever was too. Both are social media aggregators, not really social media sites in the same sense as Facebook or Twitter.

Okay, so since I’ve been sharing to Pinterest, my stats have improved. My views have gone back up. Alright, fine, maybe they’re not as high as they were during the SU days, but definitely better than they were earlier this month. My statistics page shows that after Google, Pinterest is now my second highest source for views.

I hope this helps some of you who have also experienced a drop in views and activity since the demise of SU. It also helps that the Pinterest share button is included in the WordPress sharing buttons, so you don’t have to go to the trouble of creating a custom button for it.

Well, this is very surprising (and disappointing).

Posted on August 4, 2018 by luckyotter

I was dismayed to check my stats this morning and find my views had suddenly dropped by more than half. Other bloggers have been saying the same thing has been happening to them since August 1. So it isn’t just that people have suddenly decided I have a terrible blog.

One of my first thoughts was that it’s the Trump regime’s net neutrality repeal going into effect, making it more difficult for people to access “small time” or controversial blogs. But apparently that isn’t the reason either.

I was just informed by another blogger that StumbleUpon has changed to something called Mix, and that the SU views probably have to do with the sudden dropoffs in viewers.

That’s surprising to me since I never thought SU had that much impact on blog visibility. I mean, it’s not Facebook or Twitter! But somehow, I must have been getting at least half my views through SU. I knew it had some impact, but I thought it was only a little bit.

I set up a new account at Mix but I had to do it through my Twitter account (it only gave me three choices: Facebook, Twitter or Google). I have no clue how to share my posts here to Mix, and there don’t seem to be any instructions on doing so. I don’t really understand how the site works or what its purpose is. I’m very disappointed and upset about all this.

Someone correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m guessing (and hoping) that now that I set up a Mix account, since all my posts are automatically shared to Twitter, then Mix somehow picks them up on their site too. Is that how it works?

Arguing with Trumpists is exhausting.

Posted on November 26, 2017 by luckyotter

I should know better than to argue with Trump supporters on Twitter or anywhere else. Several other people were involved in this thread. I have called them Person A, B, etc. The Trump supporter is called “Trumpist” and I’m just “ME.” This is the kind of twisted logic we are up against.

Thread Starter: With Trump’s base showing strong preferences for authoritarianism, and continuing to support a serial predator of children [Roy Moore], it’s time to look this problem in its face. 1/ (first post in a long thread)

Trumpist: YOU are the ENEMY… you are the bad guy. Christians like me are fighting progressives like you with all our hearts. We just want to live with our traditional values without scum like you trying to push ‘progressive” bs on kids like my nephew. 😡😡😡😡

ME: Well fine but then why are you evangelicals trying to shove your religious agenda down OUR throats. And that is precisely what’s happening. To your side religious freedom only means the freedom to enforce your beliefs on everyone else.

Trumpist: because GOD wants you to inherit the Kingdom which is Heaven but you can not do that with this Progressive agenda. LGBT is a sin, coveting one’s neighbor is a sin=jealousy of the rich,

ME: First of all, I think you are wrong. My God doesn’t operate that way (and I *am* a Christian). Second of all, we have FREE WILL and should have the ability to choose our own eternal fate, not under the duress of theocrats and authoritarians who want complete control.

ME (continuing): Also we are not JEALOUS of the rich. We see a few billionaire oligarchs taking everything away from average people and actively TRYING to make our lives difficult. They have NO empathy. Most of them aren’t even Christians. The Kochs are atheists, FFS. Greed is IMMORAL.

ME (continuing): I suggest you read the Gospels, esp. the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew to see how Jesus actually expects Christians to behave. You guys are the false prophets we were warned about. Twisting Christianity to support your own selfish, immoral, sociopathic agenda.

ME (continuing): Coveting your neighbor? How about ROY MOORE coveting underage CHILDREN? And defending the rapist of a FOUR YEAR OLD? Huh? Explain how that squares with your hate filled brand of “Christianity.” The party of family values, my ass.

Person A (replying to Trumpist): so, you essentially want the same as ISIS then?

ME (to Person A): The dominionists do. They have much in common with ISIS and the Taliban, just substitute Islam with Christianity and it’s the same damn thing.

Person B (also replying to Trumpist): What values? Pedophilia?

Person A: If you want a fucking theocracy, go live in Iran or Saudi Arabia and leave this country alone. We have SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE HERE. If you don’t like it, get out. (accompanying ISIS/GOP comparison meme posted)

Person C: You most assuredly have this backwards. Christians like you are attempting to require non-believers, and other religions to live according to your values because you are afraid that your belief system is so weak that it cannot hold if kids are exposed to other ideals. 1/ (beginning of a new thread)

Person D: Hint: allowing other views to exist is not “pushing” them on you. It’s what is required for a free and democratic society. This tweet right here basically demonstrates the authoritarian instinct the thread us talking about.

Person E: Why are you fighting progress?

Person F: So, “traditional” values like bigotry, hatred and supporting pedophiles? Good luck with that. You disgrace Christianity with every word out of your mouth and Jesus rebukes you.

ME: I just retweeted that hideous reply from TRUMPIST because it’s a PERFECT example of what’s wrong with America. The theocrats and dominionists want complete control and apparently do not believe in FREE WILL.

TRUMPIST (replying to everyone): gays are wrong, period. Killing babies is wrong, period. There isn’t anything wrong with praying in school. WRONG! We want those rich people to invest in America since they have the means, we don’t want war, some sense of morality in govt, what rights have women lost since the election?

ME: You really don’t get it, do you? I give up. Bye.

ME: (not replying to anyone in thread, which I left): Why am I wasting my day arguing with Trump supporters and religious nutcases? It’s an exercise in futility and exhausting af. Now I have to take a nap.

I slept for about 4 hours after that conversation and then spent the rest of the day feeling depressed and deflated, no energy at all. It’s amazing the oxygen sucking effect these zealots have on us. Of course, it might be more emotionally draining to those of us who suffered narcissistic abuse and who find Trump (and his apologists) personally triggering. We have to be careful to take breaks and replenish. But sometimes I wonder, how are we going to win when there are so many people (like a whole third of the country) who simply deny facts and who logic, reason, and even a simple sense of right and wrong simply doesn’t work on?

I think I’ve figured out their obstinacy. There are a great many people in the United States who WANT an authoritarian president, who WANT theocracy and WANT to be told exactly what to do. They WANT draconian laws for those groups of people they dislike. It satisfies their hatred and fear of those who aren’t like them. They don’t even care if those same laws hurt them too (which they will). As long as they get to see the people they hate suffer.

I’ve heard far too many Trump supporters actually gloat about how they love to “trigger the liberals.” They don’t care how morally bankrupt a leader is, as long as he is upsetting or threatening the “Others” they don’t like (who they see as the real threat). They joke about “liberal tears.” There’s something sadistic and even sociopathic in this mindset, which is common in people with authoritarian personalities who are drawn to other authoritarian types. Conversely, I don’t know any anti-Trumpists who enjoy upsetting or triggering Trump supporters. In fact, most avoid it. If we argue with them, we’re just trying to get through, for all the good that’s going to do. You hope you at least planted a seed somewhere. But sometimes it feels like scattering seeds into the Sahara Desert.

There are also many people who find thinking for themselves and making their own life choices simply too stressful and/or challenging, so they prefer an authoritarian father figure who tells them exactly what to do and thereby removes the burden of having to make too many choices or do their own thinking. It’s also people like this who are attracted to authoritarian leaders and authoritarian religions. It’s actually comforting to them. These people may have problems with codependency and don’t realize it.

*****

Further reading:

My Twitter Debate With a Trump Supporter

I also just read this peripherally-related, but VERY important, article about the death of Christianity in America. At first I thought it was just another brainless screed from the evangelical far right, but it’s actually a very well thought out essay about how the alliance between the evangelicals and the far right is actually destroying real Christianity in our country. The evangelical excuses (bordering on idolatry) for Donald Trump and now their defense of a child molester and sexual predator like Roy Moore is the end-game, at least for Christian evangelism. They have sold their souls for political gain and power.

The Death of Christianity in the U.S. (Baptist News Global)

Why I’m no longer going to troll-tweet Donald Trump.

Posted on August 5, 2017 by luckyotter

Since Donald Trump won the election, one of my favorite pastimes has been trolling him on his favorite social media platform, Twitter. It’s a lot of fun dreaming up snappy and sarcastic counter-insults to his constant stream of inappropriate, crass, self-centered, angry, and fear-mongering tweets. It’s even more fun when strangers Like them or retweet them to their followers. I won’t lie — I get a little boost of self-esteem from that, and even though I know Donald Trump will probably never see the insults I send him, knowing others do and agree with me makes me feel a little, well, vindicated. It also relieves the existential stress of his presidency just a little.

But troll-tweeting Donald Trump all the time is like shouting into an echo chamber. It’s as useless as mindlessly switching channels on the remote control. It isn’t going to change any minds or make anyone think. It isn’t going to inspire or enlighten anyone. In fact, sending Trump insults on a daily basis is really displaying exactly the same sort of hateful rhetoric the far right seems to have in excess — and which I’ve been seeing more of on the left too.

America is more polarized than I’ve ever seen it, maybe even since the Civil War. We seem divided beyond repair. The comments sections of political articles are war-zones and getting worse by the day. Like slowing down to gape at a car wreck, I don’t want to see all the verbal bloodletting — but I can’t help myself. I have to look. What I see is sickening and scary. All that hate is soul-eroding. I don’t want to be a part of that anymore.

Jesus instructed us to pray for our enemies and turn the other cheek. By that, he didn’t mean that we have to put up with hateful rhetoric, bullying, name-calling, and aggressive behavior. It doesn’t mean we have to submit to forces that go against our most deeply held beliefs and morals. Far from it! What I think he meant is that we have to fight our enemies a different way — by trying to muster up some empathy, a quality their side seems to have very little of these days. Narcissism with its accompanying lack of empathy and sense of entitlement is exactly what got our nation into the sorry mess it’s in now. It’s our national disease and maybe that’s why everyone is so obsessed with narcissism lately. Trump is merely the mirror forcing us to look at ourselves, and the reflection is ugly and painful. His presidency is the logical conclusion of where we’ve been headed as a nation for 40 years. We finally hit our bottom. We got exactly what we deserved.

But it’s not hopeless.

I think the antidote is for those of us who are willing or able to try to counteract that by showing exactly the qualities that are held in such low esteem these days. We need to stop fighting fire with fire — and maybe with water instead. Try to understand, even if we do not agree. It might take a long time, but at least it’s a beginning.

This doesn’t mean enabling those who wish to destroy us or our democracy. God, no. But it does mean realizing the far-right hate-mongers are angry and scared. They’re acting out the way they do because they are are so afraid of everything outside their own warped reality. We should pity them instead of hating them.

They fear their savior will be revealed soon as the fraud, criminal and charlatan he really is. That’s why they’re lashing out at resisters now with extra vehemence and rage, even threatening to start Civil War II on his behalf (if you doubt me on this, type #civilwar on Twitter. There may be civil war. Some of them are talking about forming militias. I don’t know how serious these threats are. But I do know that with the external threats we’re facing right now with North Korea and China, the last thing we need is a civil war. We can’t stay strong against outside enemies if we’re weak from within, and right now, we are ready to shatter like a cheap wine glass.

Trump is encouraging his far right supporters to act the way they do because he is terrified of being indicted. He is acting very guilty — and he very likely is guilty. His aggressive behavior at his rallies and hate-mongering is intended to distract from Russia and his other probable illegal activities and scare us into submission.

We can’t submit to Trump or his supporters because that’s what they want from us. They want us to fear them as much as they fear the truth. If we back down, they will win. That cannot happen! But at the same time, we also shouldn’t fight them back using their weapon of hatred either. We should lead by example and show them there’s a better way — a way out of the darkness that will bring us back together as a nation again.

Remember those WWJD bracelets that were so popular back in the ’90s? Those days seem very far away now. I wish more Christians tried to act like Jesus, but so many now preach values that are the polar opposite of what he taught.

So I like to pretend I’m back in the 1990s and ask myself, “what would Jesus do?”

I’m sure he wouldn’t troll-tweet Donald Trump.

When I started this blog, I wrote mostly about narcissistic abuse. I was enraged at the narcissists who had tried — but failed — to kill my soul. In the early days, I wrote blog posts filled with rage and hatred toward narcissists, but eventually I moved away from that. I went through a phase where I tried to understand their way of thinking instead (which enraged some other narc-abuse bloggers) but that was the only way I could begin to see my own narcissism and how it was holding me back. I’ve been working on that and trying to become a better person. I feel like it’s working, and now I’m ready for bigger things.

In a way I feel like I’m going through that process again. I’m past hating on Trump and his supporters. It’s time to move on. There’s too much hate in the world. Why add to it?

So, I decided I’m not going to troll-tweet Trump anymore even though it’s fun, sometimes ego-boosting, and relieves stress. I will keep on sharing relevant articles, studies, memes, and blog posts that state what I believe is the truth. But even more importantly, I’m going to pray that some people on the other side may be cured of their truth-blindness. In fact, I’m already doing that. That’s the best way we can love our enemies.