Look at this plant. Wow! Has it got SPIKY leaves! I find things like this totally fascinating. These little spikes really were needle sharp. This is one of the ways a plant can protect itself. Not much fun when you brush against it or stand on it with you bare feet! But then, that’s what it’s trying to tell you NOT to do!
People can be like this too. Spiky-ness is a very common human strategy of protection. It’s very uncomfortable to be around but it can be very effective in getting the person the distance they want or feel they need from others. Trouble is because it’s so uncomfortable to everyone else, it’s not a strategy that elicits much empathy or understanding. Mostly people either just get “jaggy” back, or avoid the person like the plague. If it’s temporary and what the person really needs is a bit of personal space then it can really work, but if it becomes a way of life, or a strategy which seems ever present, then the person using it can pretty fundamentally feel alone and unreachable. It’s a sad and difficult loop to be stuck in.
It takes more patience and the desire to understand in order to help to gain the trust of someone like this. And it’s only once that trust begins to kick in that the spikes begin to recede.
Heroes Not Zombies 
Dr. Bob…. very interesting and insightful post… lovely. 🙂 Time off obviously is giving you time to think about deeper things…