In the Department of Mysteries

Those among us who tend to be introspective and to require a significant amount of solitude can oftentimes be overwhelmed by interaction with individuals with whom we are not entirely comfortable -- our Tricky People. Knowing that as winter approaches, we will be required to interact with certain Tricky People more often than we do in the summer, we accordingly try to brace ourselves mentally. Fittingly, it is a tricky process.  How do we prepare?  

Sometimes, we replay in our heads a past difficult moment with a Tricky Person. We ask ourselves: what feelings surfaced?  We revisit the emotions so that we can be accustomed to their presence if they arise again, and also so that we can validate them in our heads and lay them to rest.

While this exercise is useful, it should be performed only in small doses.  We have learned that if we allow our minds to wander from barbs to insults and on to veiled (or naked) judgements, we run the risk of becoming lost in a sea of indignant rage.  Tiny steps, one stone at a time across the river of memory, are necessary.

If we are in danger of becoming mired in emotions of the past, we switch tactics and mentally examine a more practical route.  We ask ourselves:  in a single difficult moment, what better response could be used (instead of lapsing into piecemeal reply or confused silence, as is our wont)?  That is the more challenging task. Sarcasm can backfire, and at any rate, it is not a skill that we have mastered even remotely.  Speed and timing is essential; for far too often, we succumb to l'esprit de l'escalier.  Too late.

The hardest part is simple anticipation.  We oftentimes cannot imagine exactly (or even adjacently) what might transpire.  Perhaps it is naiveté, or errant optimism, that causes our inability to foresee difficult moments with Tricky People. We just have to learn to bend with the flow.

Sometimes we wish we could carry around other individuals -- our Safe People -- in our pockets.  We could pull them out as needed and ask them to please address the difficult moment, so that we may see how it should be done properly.  We know, though, that we must face our Tricky People by ourselves.

All the same, we are not truly alone.  Our Safe People are always in our hearts. They ease the discomfort inflicted by the Tricky People. For that, we are grateful.

Our final preparation:  we try to clear our minds and settle our souls as best we can in anticipation of battle, and we ensure that the pathways to a Happy Place are clear and in sight in case we must momentarily retreat.  We remind ourselves: we are strong. We are brave.  Most of all, we love, without reservation and without strings. That alone will get us through.

"There is a room in the Department of Mysteries," interrupted Dumbledore, "that is kept locked at all times. It contains a force that is at once more wonderful and more terrible than death, than human intelligence, than forces of nature. It is also, perhaps, the most mysterious of the many subjects for study that reside there. It is the power held within that room that you possess in such quantities and which Voldemort has not at all. That power took you to save Sirius tonight. That power also saved you from possession by Voldemort, because he could not bear to reside in a body so full of the force he detests. In the end, it mattered not that you could not close your mind. It was your heart that saved you." ― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

This Department of Mysteries picture was found here.