Maybe we survive by not knowing.

I'd hate to be a clergyman or a doctor. Because I'd have to deal with people that have serious problems. And I'd probably have to do it on a daily basis. That would be difficult to handle. It'd drain me emotionally. Although, I'd try to not let it. But that's easier said than done. I suspect that clergymen and doctors have ways of buffering themselves from other people's problems. They'd have to. In order to protect themselves from a breakdown. I probably could stay aloof. But I wonder if I'd have to sell my soul in order to do so. Maybe I already have. Because in so many ways, I isolate myself from people. All but a handful. A few friends. I like people. I genuinely do. But often, it's from a distance. I don't want to be emotionally drained. I wonder if many clergymen and doctors deal with their patients and parishioners in perfunctory ways. Allotting them only so much time. Maybe a half-hour of counseling or a 15-minute office visit. So that it's difficult to really get to know people. Maybe that's how we survive. By not knowing. --Jim Broede