1/a comic on forgiving and being forgiven. a topic i've been thinking a lot about as someone who has suffered from ptsd, anxiety & depression their entire adult life. some thoughts:

2/in the past i've used my mental state as a crutch to excuse certain behaviors & have seen this in others. tho i think trauma makes it harder to be "good" it doesn't mean you can't be accountable for harm. we often make excuses bc its hard to conceive of ourselves as "bad" ppl.

3/i believe in ppls capacity to get called out & learn / to unlearn harm & get better for others if they want to change & have resources to do so. this doesnt mean that the ppl they have done harm to have to forgive them or help them understand their harm.

4/thinking of ppl as good or bad is unhelpful- someone is not rlly one or the other. the internet makes it hard to believe how complex ppl & situations are & easier to become bullies or succumb to reductive thought. we look for convenient villains & not at systems that make them.

5/we're at a time where things that were largely normalized are no longer that. many ppl including myself will both realize the behavior they had was not ok & the behavior of others was not ok. a year ago i would've said it was all hopeless but i rlly believe in ppl to change.

6/this comes from a lot of places: from loving someone who is struggling &hoping for their growth. from wanting pain to not define us. from the belief that every day the people i love and i can be a bit better than we were before & have a chance to continue to love & be loved.