Chapter Twenty One
How wonderful would it be to have access to the inner thoughts of other people; behind the filters and conditioned responses. I’d love to understand. Work ceased to provide my life with any satisfaction and was causing me a great deal of distress. I was shunned; colleagues stopped making eye contact, students were muted and unresponsive. I was on the periphery of a conversation trying to understand a joke that had everyone else laughing. I grew weary, suspicious. I held back. I became withdrawn.
My drunken argument with Father Reilly stopped me from visiting the church. I couldn’t face the confession box or even the thoughts of running in to him face to face. It meant that this avenue of respite was now closed to me at a time when I needed it most. I tried praying from
