I am sorry to report that Tompkin's essay has lead me to believe that the conclusions I come to in regard to her argument are, in fact, tainted by my own experiences. I can think that I truly understand what she is writing about, yet my understanding of the writing leads me to the conclusion that I can't truly understand at all.

I am caught with the notion of subjective experience as an ultimate—there is nothing that happens outside of interpretation—and this brings me to a new better understanding of my own personal reality. I now understand that my reality is not what transpires but how I as an individual interpret it. So whatever Jan Tompkin's conclusion "really" is, I have come to a conclusion of my own, and prefer my subjective reality to Tompkin's any day.