Zombie bites are a fact of life. Despite this, we are ashamed to share our bites with our precious people anyways. We are conditioned to fear the way others react to our wounds to the point we let them become infected and decay. Today, I want to encourage you to push past the fear of rejection and talk about your zombie bites.

Growing up I shared the same fears as everyone. As a child I couldn’t talk about my bites with the adults because either they were the ones biting or I was scared of how they would react to the wounds. On the other hand, those dealing me the wounds were modeling what I was supposed to do, bite others or bite myself.

My father was quite a zombie, taking chunks out of all those around him. When I was older and attempted to confront him though, he talked about his own father. He talked of the bites his dad did to him, but where I felt disgust I could hear the pride, respect, and even nostalgia in his voice.

When I was old enough, and understood myself enough to see how badly I was rotting from my bites, I finally did try and open up about my bites to another. What I failed to realize though, was in talking about my bites I was failing to be mindful of the hurt of the other person. Like so many before me, my thoughts were entirely on myself and not my friend.

I bit them. I hurt them.

It would be several years before I could actually understand how warped my actions were. In talking about my wounds, I ended up failing to see how my friend was hurting from their own wounds. My actions were no different from my father or his father before him. How we bit others was different but the harm we dealt out was all the same.

We were all zombies biting those we are supposed to care about.

Still though, my point doesn’t change. Talk about your zombie bites. What you shouldn’t do is fail to listen to the person you are talking to. We should have dialogue, not lectures.

When I understood how warped by the infection I had become, I relied on those closest to me to call me out for my wrong behavior and when able, I sought out medical help. I went to someone who specializes in zombie bites, and now my bites have begun to heal.

Your bites will only worsen with time. They will warp your perspective, and the way we act about our bites will only lead to you unintentionally telling your friends around you that they cannot talk to you about their bites either.

Open, safe, and frank discussion is the only reliable treatment for zombie bites. Hiding it has never helped.