Camus(@newstart_2024):Sometimes the fear is not that you are a monster. It is that you are so good at twisting things you would not even notice. Theo and his brother named that. Maté called it a lack of self-trust. He has manipulated. He knows when. Usually he wants something and cannot ask for it straight, so the side door comes out. Kids do the same from weakness. If a direct need never worked, you learn the long way around. That is not a life sentence. It is an old skill that used to keep you fed. A lot of “manipulation” in adults is a leftover child strategy, fawn, hint, perform, because a clear ask once felt dangerous. The work is not self-hate. It is learning that a straight request will not end you.

Camus@newstart_2024

2026.09.28 05:48

Sometimes the fear is not that you are a monster. It is that you are so good at twisting things you would not even notice. Theo and his brother named that. Maté called it a lack of self-trust. He has manipulated. He knows when. Usually he wants something and cannot ask for it straight, so the side door comes out. Kids do the same from weakness. If a direct need never worked, you learn the long way around. That is not a life sentence. It is an old skill that used to keep you fed. A lot of “manipulation” in adults is a leftover child strategy, fawn, hint, perform, because a clear ask once felt dangerous. The work is not self-hate. It is learning that a straight request will not end you.