Personal Narrative: Three C's Poem

I woke up feeling hollow inside. Something wasn’t right. Perhaps it was the bleach undertone in the air or maybe the propofol hadn’t quite worn off. I realized a groggy throat and heavy pair of eyes were not my only side effects. As the anesthesiologist questioned me about my symptoms, I gazed down at my otherworldly digits with peculiarity - these aren’t my hands. I arose as a different individual. Although I confirmed with my mother that I was not in a dream, everything felt just as fabricated. After a routine medical procedure, I was disengaged from the world around me and I had no sense of self. Nevertheless, this symptom was predicted to disappear in a few hours: it didn’t. Quickly, a symptom known as depersonalization consumed my life. I became incapable of emotional reasoning, my ability to empathize disappeared, and it seemed as though the only thing I had left was my sanity. In the short-term, the near future seemed grim. In the long term, I grew accustom to my new shift in reality. This seemingly-permanent diminution in emotion led to my subconscious overcompensation in logic, reason, and rationale. As a result, I learned to love what I now call the three C’s: the counterintuitive, the contradictory, and the challenging. Analyzing the counterintuitive, examining the contradictory, …show more content…
My unforeseen experiences now allow me to better take on different on perspectives, and have prepared me to face whichever obstacle I encounter. Those who can create the most change in the world must first identify that which is substantive, and later user their abilities for the greater good. I now understand that depersonalization was not a zero-sum curse, but rather an opportunity that through action I took advantage of. In hindsight, it was the impetus which allowed me to improve myself beyond my believed limit. Without it, I would not be who I am