#21 - What songs or specific lyrics do you relate to your experience with DID? (2026):
Silent Lucidity
by Queensryche
(song | lyrics)
This one was shared with me long ago by someone who was reminded of me by this song. Or I reminded them of the song. Not sure.
Warriors
by Imagine Dragons
(song | lyrics)
And this one debuted early in our recovery/discovery process. We were looking for new music to ground us into our new life and new reality, and was a Motley hit straight away.
This is Why We Fight
by The Decemberists
(song | lyrics)
Lastly, another shout out from Side A: The Motley Fight Song. Self-explanatory.
#21.5 - Tell us about your persecutor(s), protector(s), and gatekeeper(s). (2015):
We don’t label ourselves quite in those terms.
I think, in a sense, all alters are protectors. Protecting themselves, protecting the body, protecting life, protecting some internal light we all possess and together create.
Our most persecutory of alters received the brunt of others’ worst behavior, and emulated what they hated in order to be loved. They then used the only love they knew to try to keep the rest of us in line. To protect from future pain, to punish preemptively in hopes of avoiding harsher potential punishment later on.
Punishment as survival seems twisted, but once we gleaned the motive, it made sense. Even those who expressed glee at their own hostility were trapped under a mask they’d been forced to wear a long, long time ago.
“Gatekeeper” isn’t a term we use, though it could describe parts who stand guard over other parts, or over specific sections of the system. Those who open and lock doors, who flip switches and press buttons, who give commands to other parts to carry out. High up in hidden hierarchies, cloaked in shadows into which we are now just barely venturing.
Every alter can change, and many want to. Some don’t know how while others still think they aren’t allowed to. Parts might not know who they are outside of what they were told to do or be, but every alter to whom we’ve shown acceptance and compassion has changed their destructive ways.
The ones who fall into these roles are some of our strongest, oldest, and most knowledgeable parts, and they all want to belong.
