How do you deal with shame about harm you've caused?
This probably is more of an overlap of being raised in a conservative Christian church as well as being raised in a 99.9% white rural part of Appalachia, but I find myself flashing back to things I said and did that were harmful and just straight up inappropriate. I went to a large, diverse university and spent pretty much the whole time unlearning and stumbling over how to talk about race, sexuality, religion, and identity through a non-Christian lens, with many mistakes at the expense of making others feel uncomfortable or alienated. I truly knew nothing and it was so incredibly obvious through my microaggressions.
I acknowledge it and try to continue learning, but sometimes the shame is all I can focus on. I know it's not something to "feel better about" because the harm is 100% real. But I also just don't know what to do with it either.
Posted Dec 11, 2025, 9:57 AM UTC