I was born in a small, southern, country town in North Texas. This environment didn’t exactly foster cultural variety. In fact, from my Kindergarten class, to Senior year, I can recall only 2 students of a different ethnic back ground than my friends and I. The closest experiences I had to another culture was my Spanish class in high school, and eating at Panchos with my family.
So, when the opportunity to travel to Guatemala arose through my church home, I knew I had to go! I wanted to experience a different culture, a different way of life. And of course, I wanted to test my Spanish Skills that I had learned in school. I was so determined to go on this trip, that I worked extra jobs, and wrote loads of letters, to fund the trip.
The trip was all I had imagined, and more! The cultural differences captivated me. The food, the colors, the houses, the atmosphere. Everything was so different. Especially, the plumbing.
My roommate on the trip and I had managed to stop up our hotel commode just a few days into the trip. Refusing to share this information with the rest of our team, we decided to combine our Spanish skills and call the front desk to request a plunger for our toilet. So, I picked up the phone, and so confidently said, “Necesito un…plunger…para la baño, por favor”. The hotel staff member on the other end replied simply with, “Si!”, and hung up.
We did it! Our first true sentence in Spanish in a time of need, and they understood us! Or so we thought…
About 10 minutes later, we heard a knock on the door. We opened to find a staff member with a big smile on her face, proudly holding an iron in her hands. My roommate and I looked at the iron, then at each other, then at the iron. Where did we go wrong!? Our Spanish was so clear! So, we tried again, this time in person. “No. Necesito un PLUNGER para la baño, por favor!”, while making a motion with our hands. The sweet little lady smiled, nodded her head, and rushed off to find a plunger. Or so we thought…
A Few moments later, we opened our door to the same knock, to find the same sweet little staff member, with the same sweet smile on her face, holding…a vacuum! At this point we were laughing so hysterically we could not control ourselves. As tears streamed down our faces from laughter and embarressment, we led the sweet little lady into our bathroom, and pointed to the horrendous sight! She gasped and quickly exited the room.
Moments later she returned with a plunger, and to our surprise, insisted on unclogging our toilet.
Trying to explain the need for a plunger in a foreign, unfamiliar language, feels very similar to trying to explain what living with true O.C.D. is like to others. I can perfectly simplify, or complicate, the description of what happens inside of me with O.C.D. , only to still find the other person oblivious to what I am experiencing.
Much like my broken Spanish, I know part of the communication challenge when explaining O.C.D. falls on my own inability to accurately express how the disorder affects my brain and my life. The other person can nod their head, empathize with the experiences shared, but it’s still so obvious that there is a major gap between what O.C.D. is truly like, and their understanding of it or ability to render help. This is because O.C.D. is like a foreign country to those who do not live with the disorder.
Part of what inspired this blog, is a deep desire and passion for helping others understand O.C.D. better. I believe that, like the sweet little lady at the hotel, our friends and family truly want to understand what we are going through internally. They may offer help, even if it’s not quite what we need in the moment. And chances are, just like the sweet little lady, they will continue to show up and try until they are able to address our needs properly and with better understanding.
I hope you’ll invite as many people as possible, to join in on this conversation as we enter 2020. I will very soon reveal some of the O.C.D. “hot topics” I plan to dive into in the new year, and look forward to raising awareness one post at a time, about this mental disorder that is so often misunderstood or overlooked.
All we really need, is a little better communication, persistent effort to understand, and… a plunger!
Wishing you all a happy Thanksgiving.
Obsessive. Compulsive. Disordered. 