Responselet 9648b
Date: Tue, 26 Nov 1996 00:55:07 -0600 (CST)
Dad,
I hope everything is going well. I made another (gutsy) move on the dialog page. I also thought I would spend a few minutes on a reponselet to "#96.48, Undulation."
I thought I would point out what I have observed to seem true in the context of my comments about your Journal the other day at lunch. As I look at others, and their essences, it seems the pattern of undulation is people is something that stays relatively constant over the course of their lives. Manic-depressive people (high frequency and high amplitude undulators) seem to have continual bouts with these rapid and turbulent emotional changes. Others seems to be chronically sullen, normal, or happy-go-lucky. I would describe this as an effect of the position of the mean, or central oscillation point, of life's cycles. For example, using my best judgement, I would classify myself as a slightly sullen centered, average frequency and slighlty above average amplitude undulator. And I think this will be the case for most of my life. Certain events will change this in the short term, and long term changes I believe can be made with significant effort. But for the most part, it seems that this is something affected by inborn or early childhood ingrained factors.
I didn't really know what to think about your plea for our prayers to have Mom change her mind for the benefit of our family as a unit. I kind of feel like it is a plea for us to take your side. On the surface, support seems to be mutually exclusive. Supporting one parent is not supporting the other. And I think praying against her decision is doing this to a dangerous degree. But I also think it is possible to mutually support both parents, with simple empathy and understanding. And this is what I will do my best to do.
I'll see you on Wednesday.
love,
Roice