pa⋅ri⋅ah
–noun
| 1. | an outcast. |
| 2. | any person or animal that is generally despised or avoided. |
| 3. | (initial capital letter ) a member of a low caste in southern India and Burma. |
Origin:
1605–15; < class="ital-inline">paṟaiyar, pl. of paṟaiyan lit., drummer (from a hereditary duty of the caste), deriv. of paṟai a festival drum
Sentence:
The film, Water, tells the story of how women from all social strata in India become pariahs upon being widowed because of the Laws of Manu written c. 1500 B.C.E.
*I chose this word because I have been feeling a bit like a pariah in my Ward. It is probably my own paranoia, but maybe I should try touching people and seeing if they quickly flee to the restroom to cleanse themselves from my iniquity like they do/did in India.
9 comments:
Uh oh. Is the ward that bad? Come to Tennessee... everyone here is related. After 1 1/2 years people are starting to call me Becky (not Aaron... sheesh, what did they think his name was??) and they are even starting to understand me when I talk. I think.
No, actually the ward is a good ward. The leadership is amazing and there are lots of active members and such, but I haven't been able to make friends and I am wondering if I am repulsive or something like that.
The only friend I have is the RS president, who I adore, but she is old enough to be my mother. There are plenty of women around my age, but none that want to accept my friendship. It is the weirdest thing!
Hey I understand. Keep at it and sometime, maybe later than sooner--but hopefully sooner, I bet you'll find someone you can call a true friend. I went through the same thing in this ward. It took literally over a year until I felt like I had a handful of true, good friends.
There's nothing wrong with you. Generally I do not like people and I'm picky about my friends. I like you, so you must be wonderful.
Every time we've moved somewhere new, it's taken me about a year to feel like I truly belonged in a ward. It's a long, hard, lonely year, but, with effort and time, things always improved. Give a little more time, get yourself a little more involved, and I'm sure that, before you know it, you'll feel differently.
Do you go to all the activities offered? Sometimes they may be thinking the same thing about you.....that you think they are odd or can tell you are judging them (and not always in a bad way). We are always so scared sometimes of introducing ourselves for fear of rejection or something. I would invite myself to activities. Ask about story time at the library (do they have one there?), offer to plan a mini-enrichment, etc.
Oh, I forgot to mention....you are smart. Some people, esp in small towns, are intimidated by that.
I do go to all the activities offered, but there are actually very few of them. At two activities that I went to, I was the only one to attend! I also always try to sit next to people I don't know in Relief Society. Like I said, it is weird. It isn't like I am not making an effort.
As for being intimidated by my smarts, I doubt they would know anything about my intelligence b/c they don't speak to me, right? Although, I did have someone tell me in a blog comment that my intelligence is "sub-par," the other day.
I have the same problem in our ward. It seems that even adults suffer from the Cliq syndrome. Although I think time might make it easier I also think it is rather disappointing when you intentionally put yourself out there and get either no response or a chilly reception. *Maybe I should say adds to the disappointment ... I'm an introvert so making sure I didn't hide in the back at meetings, making sure I smiled, said 'hi', made eye contact, was a bit of an effort emotionally and it sort of really sucks to have no emotional return on that from anyone*
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