Bracing.

An exchange yesterday went something like this:

I'll tell you what makes me most angry--it's that I can't seem to get to the place where I feel like I'm a whole person.

Tell me what it would mean to be a whole person.

I don't know--I guess I want to be free from constantly being pulled between contradictory desires.

Do you know anyone who is free from those? I'll bet there aren't any. In fact, I don't know of a single person who is "whole" in the way you describe.

. . .

So how did I get to the point where I was so intent on such an unattainable ideal?