Slivers

A sliver, commonly in the form of small, thin, pointy piece of wood or metal, plunges into the skin. Often imbedding itself with no trace outside the skin, only a small barely visible dark spot. Oh, but the pain makes it much more visible in our mind. This is a physical sliver, but in many ways an emotional sliver is little different.

Many times both are caused by an inadvertent action, whether the action is our own or someone else’s. Some slivers provide immediate pain while others wait for a point of pressure to provide their notice. Those enduring the pain must make a decision whether to tolerate the immediate sharp pain of removal or the slow pain, persistent dull pain of letting Mother Nature take her course.

When the old remedy of removing a sliver by applying pine pitch is used to pull the sliver out to a point where it can be removed, time alone will expose the sliver so it can be removed. Time alone will also remove the effect of an emotional sliver. In either case a mark remains.

And so it is, similarities exist between a physical sliver and an emotional sliver.

A series of short stories relating to emotional slivers follow this introduction. The pain on a child’s face from verbal and / or emotional abuse, the hidden hurt of an elder knowing they are no longer valued, the living pain of someone you love being unloved by your actions, or the feeling of those not touched by the love of others. Finally, the guilt and lasting pain of those having inflicted these feelings, meaningfully or not.

Hopefully, for most of us these writings will bring up true emotions, welling up in us through our hearts to start the healing and to reach out to those in pain that are in need of healing. To others not having personal emotional wealth this may be a wake up call. May we all heal together.

S.S. Mertens

2009/10/12