I use more of a storytelling method, like an allegory, to explain the emotional state of the characters and situation without making it sound personal to the audience. “Like an ant that has detected the presence of potential food source, and has been climbing up this tree for almost an hour, going about its daily routine of life, completely innocent and unfortunately ignorant of the fact that it has actually been climbing an elephant’s leg. To the ant, it had no way to distinguish the difference, and is absolved from guilt either from ill intent or from criminal negligence. And the elephant, whose mighty height and thickened skin is, by no fault of its own, existing peacefully chewing its lunch, and completely lacking the senses capable of noticing such a trivial thing as an ant on its hind leg, let alone have the dexterity and gentleness to manage any attempt at navigating this encounter in an effective intentional manner. But if the ant, by cruel chance of the gods of tragic fate, crosses the border of the leg into a more sensitive location for the elephant, and thus startles said gentle giant into a panic of enormous potential, then the resulting unexpected stampede and ensuing destruction is by no means the fault of either any, nor elephant. Thus the cause of such sorrow, is often times so benign in nature as to never cross the line between right and wrong, and those who are just as surprised by their own unexpected appearance in this tale, are themselves just as much a victim of this as those who were trampled. How then, is there any grounds for guilt? Or shame? Or justification for judgment? How is restitution made tangible through the punishment or loss of freedom of either elephant or ant? No, the healing process is often one of care, through the trials of enduring shared hardships, to a shared compassion and yearning for the comfort that comes from providing comfort to others. In the same way daughter, when your sister knocked over your playhouse because of the spider she saw, who is the one that deserves the anger you feel? Or is there maybe something better than vengeance in situations like these?”

Meanwhile my wife comes in and smushes said spider, simply because “it sat down beside her, while she was eating her cheese and drinking wine like a civilized person, and spiders should know better to stay outside in nature where they belong, in their endless pursuit of the top of the many rain spouts we have graciously provided for them outside. Charlotte trespassed and should have known better. Maybe she should have learned how to read the no trespassing signs instead of gossiping about the damn pig.”