I chose the microgloss game, and wrote this all on an envelope (that also had a shopping list, so it seemed “primed” to receive more information). Here’s a picture of the envelope: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RNwzcvjURGpRnNuGvtai_2gEK37qPsTP/view?usp=sharing
Text:
Trigger warnings may be rather triggering, both to the warned and to the warnee. In fact, when first encountering a trigger warning be aware of its many forms, which may go by other well-apportioned and well-meaning names such as “content warning” or simply the well-abbreviated “CW”. Instances of such may be found outside of literature, for example, if one considers the MPAA rating system developed by the film industry and the Catholic Church to prevent young ones from seeking refuge in dark rooms away from the hungry eyes of God. In literature there may be less of, say, an appetite for this style of regulation, instead publishers may, when appropriate, ask authors to self-declare any harmful material. On one hand, one must be an advocate for the public good and watch the back of fellow man for the marks of preventable harm. On the other, how am I to assume what is harmful to me, or amenable, for that matter, might be harmful to you? Perhaps I have a certain acquaintance with death through our many brief, but always meaningful, correspondences over the years. Our casual nature, the way his finger lingers on my wrist a few seconds too long, that is another person’s scandalous trigger! For others, maybe abuse or rape, etc. But how shall I properly warn without triggering and how shall I know if the dispatch of my duty of protection is fulfilled? In discussing with myself as advocate for the devil, I would need to submit for evidence the fact that, especially for minors and others who may not be under the control of their own impulse, that some form of restriction ensures that their innocence is intact. Is my charge then that of a crusader King on horseback, defending a Christian morality? Or a conscious modern citizen protecting the psyches of the week and maladjusted? So the choice is King Richard or King Sigmund Freud. What an asinine impasse. There is a troubling in an individuality that insists upon both its own sovereignty and absolute vulnerability to any and all external damage. Compassion should extend throughout work, and maybe an extension of said compassion is when dad tosses one into the pool before one is ready. One will learn how to swim and drowning would seem embarrassing and out of the question. So now Father and Swim Instructor are added to the vocation list that writers must keep clipped to their belts to protect the morality of the world from its own yawning and tiresome extension. I still believe warnings have a place and I can’t assume my own trauma and experience of shielding is how everyone must feel (and is therefore correct). On the other hand, it does set up the expectation that life may provide some special sign to you in preparation of its calamity. Have we added God to the list of people one must be in order to fulfill…