Kelly Venables

Forgiveness

As a young woman I was conditioned to see my anger as dangerous and undesirable. I remember being scolded for fighting with my sister and reprimanded for raising my voice. The irony of it is that my parents were extraordinarily comfortable expressing their anger. They casually waged war against one another and the world around them most days of the week. So, though I witnessed it, I wasn’t ever invited into it. And more than that, I learnt to be afraid of it and I felt powerless in its presence. I bypassed my anger and settled instead for expressing other emotions, the ones that were acceptable. This worked up until recently, when I discovered that I am undeniably and unequivocally pissed off.