Butterfly Wars

Butterfly Wars is about the destructive nature of post-traumatic stress disorder over time. In a one-year reflective journal, the narrator tells the first-person account of the development and fragility of his character, which is then subjected to provocative challenges that shatter expectations, reducing one to chronic depression. The net result overtime is low self-esteem, with personal value only credited to experiences outside of himself. The challenges are glimpses at the destructive nature of fundamentalism, the skewed perception in accepting responsibility when one is too young, the crushing weight of trusting others, and progressing to the ultimate in humiliation. The account is about failed efforts to be responsible for taking care of oneself and chronic isolation. Failure is the inability to see true value, when self-worth is not deemed possible. He wears blinders when surrounded by high self-achievement. The first step in recovery is the late life experiencing of one significant other. The book is a storyline that concludes with the realization of a beginning.