Substituting pains

Sometimes, no, many a times, I wonder why we run? I try to find reasons here and there; I draw silly analogies; sometimes I strike gold.

A long time ago when my beard and hair was all black and not politely called Salt N' Pepper, I dated a girl for a very short period and she was a cutter. I'm stressing on the short period since I didn't drive her to cutting - I was a good boy. By cutting, I don't mean that she was a wood cutter or a lumberjack. She used to cut herself - self harm. Most of her scars were on her limbs.

I had forgotten about her scars but recently I've noticed many runners at events and at group runs, who have quite a collection of these cuts. Some are even deep and wide, which means that there was repeated cutting of the same spot to prolong the satisfaction and relief from cutting. Yes, a cutter can derive relief and satisfaction from cutting since in the simplest of psychological explanations -  it replaces an existing pain deep within with a new one. The cutter can control and relish the pain and forget the one rooted inside him.

Cutting is ok, I guess. Your body, your choice, your beauty, go full graffiti. As long as you don't kill me or yourself, use your body how you want. Go you!

There is a tribe in Papua New Guinea called the Kanigara, which creates a crocodile pattern on the skin through scarring as a right of passage.

Kanigara tribal

Coming back to running, what I find wonderful and bewildering (in a good way) is to see that these runners limbs' around me only have scars from the past. I think they've found a new substitute for the cutting. The pain from running is the antidote to the pain within.