What do you meme?
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My Instagram inbox beckons me with its red notification, more messages to read.
As a millennial therapist, I found myself weirdly excited the first time a client sent me a meme.
Verywell Mind / Getty Images
(You never forget your first.)
It felt like an honor to me.
As someone who considershumorand sarcasm her love language, I received the meme as a sign of trust.
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Sometimes a meme from a friend will hit my inbox, and Ill feel a bit of surprise.
Wait, you feel that way too??
I never would have guessed.
Whether you love em or hate em, memes are an important part of modern discourse.
Whether you love em or hate em, memes are an important part of modern discourse.
As both a therapist and regular human, Im glad that we have this way of communicating.
Being a therapistcan be more isolating than I ever wanted to believe it would be.
I cant talk much about what happened at work to people in my life, other than inincrediblybroad strokes.
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Typically one might think that sharing memes about depression might be…depressing?
And, perhaps, to people not dealing with those melancholic feelings, they might be.
Also,finding the humor in tough situationscan take some of the power away from these otherwise taboo feelings.
I went from seeing her daily to now only seeing her every few months.
Its a tiny reminder that shes thinking of me and still feels connected.
If you felt a small rush of power, youre not petty.
(Or at least no more petty than me.)
Missing out on a meme wont kill you, but having that shared language will help bring you closer.
But while, yes, each persons exact situation is different,feelings are largely universal.
Memes feel particularly validating for the not-so-charitable feelings.
Am I grateful for peoples well wishes after my mom died?
But also, does it sometimes really annoy me?
And acknowledging that, and that Im not alone in it, can help me move on.
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