therapy and why I endorse it

i am in therapy. 

thankfully. 

it's not the first time in my life. but it's the first time that i am actually getting anything out of it. 

my previous "therapists" seemed to get something out of my being there for an hour every week, in that they got to tell me their life stories. 

the worst of all of them was Brenda. and yes i am using her real name. she deserves to have her name known. especially if someone reading this thinks, hey, i had a "therapist" named Brenda who did the same thing. 

that way you'll know YOU didn't do anything wrong: 

she did. 

Brenda the "therapist" had a cozy little office in a small Ontario town. she liked to wear peach coloured sweaters. she had lots of first nations artwork in her office and she lived on a reserve. her ex-husband was physically abusive and ...

i learned all about that. 

her 16 year old daughter was angry and rebellious and caused all sorts of problems ...

i learned all about that too. 

i'm not sure that Brenda learned much about me in the 2 years that i saw her. we did, however, get drunk together and dance the night away at the local bar. she did, however, invite me to her house to continue the party and to spend the night. 

that was the night i decided it was time to stop seeing Brenda the "therapist" who needed a great deal of therapy of her own. and i truly hope that she has found the help that she needs and that she has found peace in her life.

there were other "therapists" that i saw before and after her. but none with a story quite like hers. or had an impact like hers. 

about 16 months ago, i had enough of feeling anxious all the time. i was walking the dog and everyone i saw was a potential "bad guy" ... even the 12 year old boys who i was CONVINCED were following me. so i took a risk (a huge giant leap of faith) and fairly randomly chose someone from a website. 

Note: (i don't actually believe in the randomness of life. i believe that the universe leads us to where we need to be and the universe most certainly led me to my therapist)

her name shall herein after be known as Nosy Nora. i never disliked her. but i wasn't so sure about seeing her. i mean ...

where were all her stories about her trauma to match mine? 

why wasn't she relating to me with horror stories of her own? 

why did I have to do all the sharing? 


when was the part where we partied together? 

and over time it got easier. i started to realize that Nosy Nora actually WANTS to hear what i have to say. 

i'm sorry ... what? 

she is interested in my story. in my grief. in my joy. in my life. in me ... 

i'm sorry ... what? 

this process is about ME? 

aren't i supposed to listen to her now? shouldn't Nosy Nora be telling me about her marital issues? shouldn't i be giving HER advice about her children and their nonsense? isn't she supposed to talk about her life in high school? i was so confused.

what shocked me most was the lack of judgement. i can say crappy things and Nosy Nora makes them okay. i can tell her my darkest thoughts and she doesn't act shocked or even surprised. i can tell her the shitty things that i think and feel and somehow those are okay for her to hear. 

eventually we got to a place where i was able to share with her my immense and immeasurable grief over the death of my best friend (whom this blog is named after). at the time of her death, i was left to deal with it on my own. i wasn't comforted or even hugged. So i just pushed those feelings way deep down and grieved for 18 years without really allowing myself to fully grieve. 

Nosy Nora made it okay to cry over a death that took place 18 years earlier. she made it okay to FEEL that sorrow and anger and loss. to FEEL it and to let it go.and after 18 years, i am able to talk about it without crying. i am able to love my friend and to miss her, but without feeling the hurt and loss as fresh. 

do you have ANY idea how incredible that is? i never thought that it was possible. and i felt stupid and ashamed for feeling so sad about something that happened so very long ago. 

and now i feel at peace. 

i can't really explain the trust that was built with Nosy Nora through that experience. it's not explicable. but it is transformative. it is trust. and safety. 

and because of that experience, i have been able to open up about other experiences; things that i thought would remain buried and private forever. things that will unfold in this blog as i feel ready and able to share them. to release them from the dark corners of shame and bring them to the surface. 

but for now ... if you have been thinking about therapy ... if it has crossed your mind ... if you are against therapy because you had a Brenda in the past ... it's worth it. 

and it takes time. 

and you won't find that connection immediately. 

but it's worthwhile. 

and you are worthwhile. 

so go for it. i took the risk, and i am thankful for that each and every day. 

xoxo

.....

Treating myself with compassion

tonight i ate half a pizza in one sitting in a very short time span. that was a lot of pizza. 

why did i eat so much pizza? 

i have come to learn that we are all made up of many parts of ourselves. the adult me is often not the one in charge. tonight, it was my 3 year old self who decided to eat the pizza.

last night i saw a photo in an old book. it was a photo of me at my 3rd birthday party. 

look at my eyes. look how scared I am. 

that day, i faced trauma and ran from it, only to be shamed by my parents and told to go back and face it again. i wasn't asked why i ran away. i wasn't asked why i was so scared. no one hugged me, or comforted me, or took the time to find out why i would hide in my room crying at my own birthday party. instead, i was scolded and forced to return to the scene of the trauma. 

no one listened to that 3 year old little girl. no one believed her. 

she learned that day that she didn't matter. that she wasn't worthy or deserving of care. that she wasn't worth listening to. so she found ways to numb her pain.

and tonight she reacted to the trauma by making the adult me eat half a pizza. 

which then brought on a shame storm. (Brene Brown) 

i began listing all the things that i hate about myself. 

the list is long and possibly endless. and i wont bore you with the details. suffice it to say, it was an incredibly long list of every little detail that i hate about myself which only led to more shame. 

and letting yourself be swallowed by a shame storm only begets more shame.

a very wise woman, who is also a very dear friend, AG, said "your little part is severely hurting ... you can believe her. i can believe her. i DO believe her. So are you going to continue to slap her in the face with it? ... resolve to treat her better." 

this is my attempt at treating her with compassion instead of the rejection that she received that day. 

i am choosing to share this piece of my story ... i am choosing to give her a voice. she wants to say that she was scared. she wants to say that she was hurt. she wants to say that she was just as important as the guests at the party who she was told were the reason she had to get her ass back down the stairs. she wants to say that someone needed to ask her what scared her to the core. why she would hide and repeatedly kick the dresser at her own birthday party. someone needed to notice that her fear was REAL.

giving her a voice makes her feel heard. making her feel heard helps me to forgive myself for eating half a pizza. giving her a voice gives ME a voice. makes ME feel heard. 

and it is my way of showing myself compassion. 

xoxo

...

owning my story

it has been a long time. a very, very long time. 

many things have happened. 

so many that i don't know where to begin. 

i have been reading a lot lately .... no ... i have been reading a LOT lately. mostly 3 authors: Geneen Roth, Brene Brown, and Allie Brosh. All incredible women with awesome things to say. 

Brown wrote:

i have been exploring my darkness and as i dig up my innermost fears and shames, i want to begin to share them. here. in this space. sharing my story is a way to own it. and owning it allows me to be vulnerable, which will allow me to make space for joy and hope and happiness.

and it is scary. and it will take me time. 

so please be patient with me. 

i hope that my story will help someone the way that the stories i am reading have been helping me. 

xoxo


.......

strings and things and a side dish of guilt

i have learned to ask for help over the years, but it makes me uncomfortable to do it.

i didn't really understand why.

until this weekend.

this weekend i reached out for help and was met with strings and things and a side dish of guilt. a side dish that is apparently best served cold, and repeatedly, and often.

there are people in my life who offer help without even being asked ...

GT and i have worked together for 9 years now and sometimes we don't even have to finish sentences, we know what needs to be done, and we get it done. and i can ask her for help because i know that it will come with no strings attached, and i won't feel like i owe her something, or that i am beholden to her. I don't have any older siblings (not that she is THAT much older than me, in fact, our students think that I am older than HER), but over the years, GT has become more than simply a colleague to me, she is like a big sister to me; a friend, a confidant, and a sounding board for all things that i could ever need to bounce off of someone. so asking GT to help me is something comes much more easily than asking others.

this weekend, however, i sought the help of someone from who i normally would avoid making such requests. someone i am very close to. someone who thinks that he has been there for me, but has never been there for me for the things that i really needed.

i struggled with the decision to make my request.

but i decided that all i could do was put it out there and see what transpired.

at first, i was pleasantly surprised. he responded to my need generously. without comment, without judgement, without making me feel like i owed him anything. i went to bed feeling like things were going to go smoothly from now on.

and then came the first string ... and the second ... and the third ... and i know now that i will be beholden and owe him, despite knowing that what was given to me was given freely and was no less than i deserve.

and i have decided that i will lose no sleep over the strings. i will not be pulled in different directions by the strings. he can serve up as much guilt as he wants to, and i will slide it around my plate, pretending to eat it, but leaving it on the plate, just as i used to do with my broccoli (i still do that, i even did it with my dinner tonight!).

Pokey Sue says that we are bombarded with words all day every day and much of what is thrown at us is garbage. if we wouldn't eat garbage, then we shouldn't eat people's garbage words. we should take in only what is healthy and good for us - things that feed our souls, that make us better, that build us up (see, i listen to you pokey sue, sometimes ...).

that's hard to do. 

but, as i tell my students regularly; if you put bad ingredients into your soup, you will make bad soup. if you put in good ingredients, you will make good soup. 

... so i am going to ask for help from you who are reading this ... please do something for me? please go make some delicious soup, reject the garbage words, don't get caught in people's strings, and for goodness sake, if you don't want to eat the carrot with the shriveled end, then  go ahead and LEAVE IT ON THE PLATE!!!

XOXO

...

How are you?

... sharing my feelings has always come easy to me, if it means saying "I'm fine" or "I'm good" ...

... sharing what i am really feeling is a horse of a different colour. 

most of the time, when people say "how are you?" they aren't actually asking you how you feel, they are reciting the polite greeting which is to be answered with "fine thanks, how are you?" or "good, and you?" so it comes as a big surprise when someone really want to know how i am feeling, and wants to take the time to actually talk about how i am feeling.

so this blog post is dedicated to those women in my life who actually want to know the answer to the question, "how are you?" ... you know who you are.

... the idea of someone caring enough about me to want to know what's going on in my head, heart, and soul, is relatively new to me. and it has taken years to get used to. i was so used to not being heard, or being afraid to speak, or not bothering to speak. and i am only now beginning to ask myself why.

this post is short, but in this time of struggle for so many of my dear friends, i wanted to acknowledge how much it means to me that you actually want to know how i am feeling and why.

and the next time i say, "how are you?" i really and truly mean it. 

much love and patience,

xoxo


...

anxiety

we do not spend enough time talking about mental health issues. 

• we stare at the crazy lady who sits in the park and feeds the birds. 
• we avoid the crazy man who walks down the street talking to himself. 
• we blame the friend who no longer returns our phone calls. 
• we disregard the crazy aunt who no one wants to sit next to at Christmas dinner. 
• we use words like "manic" "bipolar" "depression" and "schyzo" as insults or jokes.

i have reached a point in my life where it is time to give voice publicly to the ways in which fear and anxiety can be paralyzing.

anxiety is the pesky voice inside your head that tells you to stay under the blanket on the couch when the sun is shining and it's the first truly beautiful and warm day in spring. anxiety is the need to focus on one thing, like a video game, to calm the jumble of thoughts in your head ... it's the overwhelmed feeling of being alone and yet smothered when in a group of people, even people whose company you enjoy very much ... it is the racing heart that feels as though it will beat out of your chest ... the tightening of your chest making it difficult to breathe ... the feeling of being crushed ... the desire to go back to sleep ... it is laying awake at night worrying about whether or not your best friend hates you for something you said (that turns out she doesn't even remember) ... it is worrying that when you walk the dog around the corner, you need to stay in the sight-lines of multiple possible rescuers for when you get attacked ...  the worrisome thought that plays over and over in your head:

"is she mad at me?"
"did i do it right?"
"what if ..." 

but we  don't talk about these feelings.

we hide them in shame.

we blame them on illness, or exhaustion, or double-booked plans, or too much work.

we don't say, "i can't come out tonight because i am feeling like facing a crowd will crush my chest" ...

... so it is time to stop hiding. stop making excuses. to be honest.

                         i am both okay 
                                     and 
                  not okay at the same time. 


my anxiety has prevented me from enjoying my life to the fullest. my anxiety has prevented me from experiencing what the world has to offer.

in grade 5, my class went to the science centre and participated in a gifted program testing the speed in which tubes of various weights rolled down a ramp. we had to time each tube and then graph our results. i kept spelling tube "T-O-O-B" and could not make my graph look like the other students. i was in tears as panic set in. it was the end of the world that i was unable to spell correctly or to graph my results correctly. 

in middle school, i was severely bullied. and i told no one. i was scared that no one would believe me, or that it would get worse, or that there was no where else to do, and so i suffered in silence for 2 years, suffered through the names, and the taunting, and the writing on my locker; it felt safer to stay with the evil that i knew rather than moving to a new school that could in fact be worse. 

i got myself to new york city when i was 21. on the bus ride there, i was sure that someone was going to attack me. once there, i hid in my cousin's apartment for a week and only went out for a walk the day before i was to go home. 

when i was 23, i moved to halifax. a friend lent me her apartment while she was away. the first thing i did when i arrived was to take a taxi the store to buy a TV. and i spent the week, hidden in her bedroom watching TV, terrified to step outside the front door. with the company of my soon-to-be-roommate, i learned the bus and ferry routes that would get me to:

- the mall- school- the cafe  - the grocery store

and the rest of the time, i stayed at home in my small apartment, with no furniture, using an inflatable mattress as a bed and cardboard boxes to hold my books, watching TV on 3 channels with no cable; scared that i would get lost, scared that something bad would happen to me. just scared. 

when faced with a challenge, i panic. i pace. i cry. i freeze up.

and yet, i find bravery in the small details.

when faced with an invitation to meet a friend, i have to weigh my fears against the possibility of having a good time. i begin to ask myself:

- where will i park?
- will there be parking?
- how much will parking cost?
- should i take the subway?
- if i take the subway, will i know which direction to turn when i exit the station?
- will i find where i am going?
- will my friend really be waiting for me?
- is it the right day? the right time?
- how long will it take to drive there?
- what will happen if i get lost?
- what if there is construction and i have to take a detour?
- what if i am late and the person i am meeting gets mad at me?
- what if they stop being my friend?

and as these questions are swirling around in my mind, becoming a jumble of phrases, whatifs, and impossible scenarios, panic begins to set in; my heart races, the lump in my throat sends tears to my eyes, and i start to think of all the reasons why i should stay home and what excuse i could make up. trying to quiet the thoughts, to calm the fear, to face the questions ... it has become a full-time job.

these questions must seem ridiculous as you read them. with the invention of the GPS and the Green P Parking app, why would i need to worry? just drive, if you get lost, you can find your way back. if there is a detour, you can go around it. if you are late, you can be forgiven. if you have the wrong day, or time, you can reconnect with a simple text, phone call, or email.

but they are  not  ridiculous. they are real to me. they cloud my mind and prevent me from doing the most simple things.

this summer i am going to face my biggest fears. i am going to get on an airplane and travel across an ocean. i am going to stay in hotels in countries i have never been to where i do not speak the language. i am going to wander through cities with a paper map and have to stop to ask for directions or rely on DP to be the one to find our way.

i am, in many ways, lucky. DP provides me with unwavering love and strength. despite what she goes through herself, she is there to point me in the right direction both literally and figuratively. she lets me ask the questions. she lets me go through the list of whatifs and then guides me through to the other side of the tunnel.

this summer i am going to see things that i have never seen before, face challenges that i have never faced before, i am going to walk through an underground labyrinth, i am going to see buildings built in the year 1200, i am going to see medieval castles, and it will be scary and i am going to embrace my worries with love and work to respect myself and my process. because i am not broken.

if you are feeling like your anxiety, or your worries, are taking over your life, please seek support. Here are some resources that you can turn to. Click on the following links to find information that may help you find the support that you need:

Mayo clinic

Anxiety Disorders Association of Canada

Help Guide

Anxiety BC

Generalized Anxiety Screening Test

National Institute of Mental Health

US National Library of Medicine

.......

ps

my heart feels like a caged bird trying to burst from my chest as my finger hovers over the "publish" button for this post ... and yet, it is with great freedom that i choose to share my story because silence leaves you lonely and alone.

XOXO

... elipsis ...

... I was recently asked why I put three dots at the end of everything that I write ... 

Why an ellipsis when it is the end of my sentence?

So I thought that it was time to sit down and write about a practice that I began when I was 18 and reading anna livia novels borrowed from the library … 

(click ... here ... to learn more about feminist lesbian author, anna livia who first introduced me to the use of ellipses as a way to imbue your writing with the unspoken ...) 

Wikipedia defines an ellipsis as:

Ellipsis (plural ellipses; from the Greek: ἔλλειψις, élleipsis, "omission" or "falling short") is a series of dots that usually indicate an intentional omission of a word, sentence or whole section from the original text being quoted. [...] Ellipses can also be used to indicate an unfinished thought or, at the end of a sentence, a trailing off into silence (aposiopesis) [...]  When placed at the beginning or end of a sentence, the ellipsis can also inspire a feeling of melancholy or longing.

Sometimes words “fall short” of what I want to say. Sometimes my thoughts are unfinished, or are melancholy. Sometimes there are no words for what I 

want to say. Sometimes words are not enough, or words are too much.

Mathematically speaking, a circle is a closed curved shape that is flat. That is, it exists in two dimensions or on a plane. In a circle, all points on the circle are equally far from the center of the circle.

An ellipse (which is not an ellipsis) is also a closed curved shape that is flat. Instead of having all points the same distance from the center point, though, an ellipse is shaped so that when you add together the distances from two points inside the ellipse (called the foci) they always add up to the same number.

More importantly, however, an ellipse is like a circle tipped to the side. It is like taking a mug and looking at it straight on from the top, which shows you a circle.

But if you take that same mug, and tilt it slightly and look at it from a different perspective, the mug becomes an ellipse.

When I use an ellipsis … 

I am pausing ...

... I am using dots to stand for the words that can’t be said ...

... for the words that don’t exist

... for an emphasis on stopping to think about what I said

... for trailing off my thoughts

... as an homage to the women who have gone before me and were unable to express their thoughts with words 

... for LGBTQ people whose lives were hidden by the unspoken …

… I use an ellipsis in place of an ellipse … 

... as a way to revisit my thoughts, as a way to tilt my thought on its side and see the world from a different angle. As a way to indicate that my thoughts add up to equal my words no matter where the foci are placed.

There is a heavy emphasis within the dots that I place in a row, 3 at a time.

So … that, my friends, is why my writing is filled with … ellipses ...

…

Idle No More

as i sat at christmas dinner, and i filled my plate with delicious food, i looked around the table at the laughing, happy, loving, faces and i was filled with gratitude. but not for the the food, or the company, or the love in my family ... i was filled with gratitude for the gift of the land that our homes sit on, for the stores that carry the food we eat, for the land that grows the vegetables that i so carefully and deliciously prepared for us.

and i began to think about hunger.

chief teresa spence is hungry today. not deliciously hungry as i was when i gazed at the turkey, mashed potatoes, yams, stuffing, carrots ..... she is 21 days hungry, with an ache in her belly and her bones. she is seven generations hungry for the rights and dignity and respect her people had taken away from them. she is hungry for the protection of the earth and its resources.

i teach middle school history, and the textbooks still talk about the "discovery" of the new land by the european explorers. there are units about the mutual benefits shared between the aboriginal peoples and the european newcomers. in fact the curriculum states:

"alanyse examples of interaction between First Nations peoples and european explorers to identify and report on the effects of cooperation and the reasons for disagreements between the two groups"

as if the effects of cooperation and disagreements are in the past - as if First Nations peoples are simply historical figures whose customs and beliefs lie in an ancient civilization that no longer exists.

we are not responsible for the choices of our ancestors. we cannot be held responsible for the atrocities that took place generations before we were born. and at the same time, we cannot sit idly by while yet another generation of people suffers, we cannot ignore or deny promises made by our ancestors in the form of treaties. we cannot continue to stand by and watch the attempted assimilation of nations.

Idle No More states:

":Idle No More calls on all people to join in a revolution which honours and fulfils indigenous sovereignty which protects the land and water. Colonization continues through attacks to Indigenous rights and damage to the land and water. We must repair these violations, live the spirit and intent of the treaty relationship, work towards justice in action, and protect mother earth." idlenomore1.blogspot.com

teresa spence is hungry for change. she is hungry for the recognition that this history of "cooperation and disagreements" is an on-going struggle in a land my ancestors savagely conquered, and fought wars with each other over. she is hungry for a resolution to the ongoing destruction of the land and the lessening protection of the water.

and she is hungry. her insides must be aching.

she is willing to die as a martyr, while the nation stands idly by and the prime minister refuses to meet with her.

and so i wonder, on this New Year's Eve ... what will 2013 bring? what changes to our planet, to our nation, to our people? for we are all people.

and what will happen when chief teresa spence dies? for she will die, this is inevitable, she will eventually starve to death while the rest of the country continues on with their New Year's Eve parties, while i clean up all the delicious treats from christmas, while i feel sorry for myself that i can't have chocolate cake.

what is in store for us in 2013?

when a song moves you .........

today as i was singing with my choir, one of the songs really touched me ... i was moved to become very introspective.

we have sung this song for years, between rehearsals and performances, and practicing it in my car for the last five years, i must have sung this song more than a hundred times ... but for some reason today it moved me ... for the first time ... it isn't even a song that i like that much!!!

"Every life has a plan
Though sometimes the map is out of our hands"
- Dawn Langstroth

i have been trying to focus on letting go of the control i think i have over what goes on around me. i can't control the people around me, the choices they make, the weather, the events in my life, the cycles that my body goes through. i only have control over the way i react and respond to what goes on. i am not a religious person. i don't believe that there is a higher being paying enough attention to each of us that that higher being helps people win american idol - if a higher being helps people win american idol but allows other people to rape, murder, torture, abuse .... well then i don't want to participate in worshiping that higher being .... but i digress. my point is, that i am not a religious person, but i am spiritual. the universe is full of energy and we don't control what goes on around us (no matter how hard we try! how hard i try!!!) i need to let go of these crazy attempts to control what cannot be controlled and release my fears of following a path that is not in my hands ...

"Every day is a step
Though we may not know the reason just yet" - Dawn Langstroth

i am constantly reading and researching and trying new things and trying to make things happen that i really have no control over. there are people who have come into my life to teach me things, and although some of these things have been difficult, or even painful, there are reasons i needed to learn these lessons. there is growth that comes from pain, and from heartache, and from loss.

"When your faith fails
When your dreams sleep
Learn to let go, and just let it be"
- Dawn Langstroth

I don't think that letting go over the idea that i can control the uncontrollable is giving up. over the last few months, or the last year really, i have felt like giving up on my dreams. i have felt like my dreams will never come to be. but it's time to live my words and truly stop trying to change the things that are inevitable and unchangeable. that is really easy to write. it is not as easy to live.

"Let there be love
Let there be light
Let there be hope in the dark of the night
For every heart that's lying in wait
Let there be love
Let there be love"
- Dawn Langstroth

There is a heart out there waiting to be in our family. where that heart is, no one knows. but the heart is waiting, whether or not it is already beating. and i am giving up on the notion that i have any control over this process, no matter how many books i read, or how many needles are poked in my feet and fingers, and how many cups of tree branch tea i drink, or what music i listen to while i sleep, or what mantra i say to myself, or how many drugs i take .... i am open to whatever will come to be, in whatever form it may take.

"You are strong
You are brave
Though I couldn't even count all the way"
- Dawn Lanstroth

people keep telling me how strong i am. how brave i am. how hard i work. what a difference i make in so many people's lives. and i don't see any of that. i see the tired, scared, girl with the bully in her head who tells me how lazy, and stupid i am. i could so so much better at so many things. i could put so much more effort into so many things. i am not strong. or brave. but i am trying to hear these words and i am trying to believe them ... i am trying .... it will take time ....

"There's a time to be still
Let the river carry you where it will
When your faith fails
When your dreams sleep
Learn to let go
Just let it be"
- Dawn Langstroth

this is my "time to be still." this is my time to take really good care of myself, not so that i can be a baby making machine, or so that i can fit into a stupid white shirt that i hate with a passion that i only wear twice a year, and not so that i can fit into my favourite pants .... this is my time to take really good care of myself so that i can feel good, and have more energy, and be happy, and healthy, and not feel sluggish and feel like sleeping all the time. on thursday after work, i plan to go and join the local gym. i felt really good about myself when i worked out at 6am before going to school everyday. i felt good about myself, but i also felt good. i had energy to face the day. i am letting go of the notion that i will ever be a certain size or look a certain way, and i am going to go to the gym and refuse to let them weigh and measure me monthly. i am letting go of my need to indulge in foods because i feel like i need them. i know how i need to eat to feel good. i know how i need to eat to make my body function properly.

"It's a long, hard road to travel
Yes, I know what it's like when you lose your way
When the best laid plans unravel
That's when you've got to believe"
- Dawn Langstroth

this has been a long road, and i'm nowhere near my destination. this isn't where we wanted to be in 2012. this isn't where we saw ourselves. but this is where we are. and i most certainly lost sight of the destination. i had lost sight not so much of where we were going .... it's more like i had a map that i was reading upside down, which i actually do quite often with real maps! i was heading in a direction that had nothing do with our destination. i was off on my own path and needed some redirection.

and so i am trying to believe.

i am trying to believe that when i take care of myself, the universe will take care of me.

i am trying to believe that the hard lessons i have learned this year have served a purpose and have made me a better person.

i am trying to believe that when i let go, i will continue to grow, and to change, and to be the person that i have always wanted to be.

....

Anne Murray - Let There Be Love [Dawn Langstroth]
www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcjEG1skuzQ

Reflecting, Renewing, Rejoicing

pausing to notice ...

“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.” ― Søren Kierkegaard

Reflection

A little reflection will show us that every belief, even the simplest and most fundamental, goes beyond experience when regarded as a guide to our actions.William Kingdon Clifford

this is a month of reflection for me. looking back, not just on the last 2 years of ttc, but also looking back at the last 35 years. listening to the voice in my head. sometimes the voice isn't nice. sometimes she is a bully. a mean girl.

i have been trying to listen to the voice in my head and hear what she is saying; it's hard to listen without believing her. it's hard to hear what she is saying without believing her. she can be really mean. she judges me, and my choices, harshly.

but it's important to listen to her in order to hear what she is saying so that i can figure out why she is saying it. where do my messages come from? where did i learn the things that i have learned?

lessons from the voice in my head:

1. never tell anyone when you are hurt. keep it to yourself. 
2. never ask for help. find a way to manipulate the help that you need without coming right out and saying "i need help"
3. if you eat one piece of chocolate, you have ruined everything, so you might as well eat the whole thing. and have a second because really? you messed up.
4. if someone is mad at you, that means they are leaving you and they never want to be your friend again, so smooth it over as quickly as possible. 

Your problem is you’re too busy holding onto your unworthiness.   – Ram Dass

Renewal

“Every single cell in the human body replaces itself over a period of seven years. That means there's not even the smallest part of you now that was part of you seven years ago.” ― Steven Hall, The Raw Shark Texts

it's a month of renewal. i have filled the fridge with fresh, locally grown, organic fruits and vegetables. i look forward to eating the fresh foods not only because of how good they taste, and how big the taste is, but because i know that it is good for me.

it makes my body feel good. it makes me feel good emotionally because it doesn't mess with my blood sugar or my hormone levels. but it also makes me feel good psychologically to know that i am making good choices.

today i bought a $7 loaf of bread.

Photo from Bunner's Website

that's nuts. or so i thought. but as i sat in the big red chair eating a slab of bread, still warm ... i decided i would have paid $14.

the bread is made from a blend of bean flours, which gives it extra fiber and protein. but it also has no dairy, no eggs, and no wheat. amazing. it tastes like a spongy white bread. (click here see the link under the photos to go to the Bunner's website if you live in toronto and want to visit this fantastic bakery)

on my kitchen counter right now there are two treats: a cinnamon bun and a vanilla cupcake - both of which are also made with no wheat, no eggs, and no dairy. vegan and gluten-free. sweetened with agave. i can't even begin to describe my excitement.

Photo from Bunner's Website

getting excited about food again is a wonderful feeling. knowing that the food tastes good, is good for me, and wont make me feel sick or sad or anxious or moody. it's an incredible feeling.

i took the time today to really experience the time at acupuncture. to feel the points the needles were in. to feel how my muscles feel. to feel the tension in my muscles. to try to relax the muscles - to release the tension. it feels like in that hour, i am renewing my energy for the week.

Rejoice

Be Content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.Lao Tzu

how do you rejoice when there is so much craziness and despair in the world around you? how do you face each day, knowing what is going on in the world? it isn't easy. i am a person who thinks a lot. a person who wonders. a person who ponders what everyone else in the world is doing. i think about my students. i think about my friends. i think about people in other countries. i think about everyone. so how do i take time to rejoice?

i am working on myself. on rejoicing in the small things in life that make me who i am - that make my life what it is.

Happiness is not a goal; it is a by-product.   – Eleanor Roosevelt

i savour the taste of the fresh, soft, warm bread. i slowly sip my once a day chai latte instead of gulping it down.

i revel in sitting in the livingroom making crochet flowers while BB unravels the wool for me.

i appreciate long car rides with BB, listening to music, looking at the sights around us, appreciating each other's company.

i am rejoicing in the smell of fresh cut grass, the taste of agave in my tea, the sounds of giggling children at the park. i am rejoicing in being with people who make me feel good, who make me feel worthy and valued and like i can be myself. i am rejoicing in seeing old friends, getting a hug, watching friends finish a giant bottle of wine, making plans to do things i wouldn't normally do -  like drive to strafford to see a show, or drive to barrie to see a half-price movie with my best friend, or sit at the coffee shop ACROSS from starbucks (*wink*).

i am rejoicing in thinking about going back to work. meeting my new students. seeing how the returning students have grown. hearing about their summer vacations. getting back into the routines.

i am rejoicing in knowing that soon i will go back to school shopping: the smell and feel of fresh new pencils, pencil crayons, erasers ....

in the midst of chaos, struggle, and major changes, there is good.

If you’re going through hell, keep going.   – Winston Churchill

through reflection, renewal, and rejoicing, the good in the world shines brightly.

my hope for you, whether you are ttc, or starting a new job, or dealing with the health of your family, my hope for you is that you can find the beauty in the day and focus your energy on the positive.

much love,

xoxo


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