Moving From Surviving to Thriving
December 20, 2014
Facing Fear, Family, My Journey with God, Personal Growth, Recovery, Trauma childhood trauma, Christmas Memories, emotional strength, Facing Adversity, facing fear, Family, forgiving dad, Forgiving My Father, healing, Letting Go, Mental Health, recovery, Spiritual Journey, Transformation 13 Comments
Dad’s birthday is today; gone now nearly 5 years, he would be turning 92.
He hated Christmas. Apparently his birthday was forgotten every year in the midst of Christmas preparations when he was growing up. The pain of being forgotten never seemed to leave him. He would not allow us to put up a tree until his birthday had passed, and even then did so grudgingly.
I know now Dad’s Christmas experience is only a tiny window into his life story. More
October 22, 2014
Facing Fear, Personal Growth, Recovery, Trauma abuse survivor, childhood trauma, emotional strength, Facing Adversity, finding freedom, getting help, healing, Mental Health, personal growth, recovery, Transformation, truth 30 Comments
With Halloween around the corner, ghoulish decorations are beginning to pop up alongside gargantuan pumpkins, bumpy gourds, and colorful leaves.
A plastic skeleton swinging in the wind recently reminded me of the saying about keeping skeletons in the closet.
My closet is no stranger to skeletons. Some have represented things done to me, others symbolized things I’ve done. Shame and fear were the hinges on my closet doors. Strong and secure, they kept my secrets tucked in the dark.
Or so I thought. More
September 2, 2014
Personal Growth, Recovery, Trauma Blogging, emotional strength, finding freedom, getting help, gratitude, healing, Joe Pote, Lori Lara, Mental Health, personal growth, PTSD, recovery, Spiritual Journey, The Presents of Presence, Transformation, truth 41 Comments
When I started my road to recovery, I felt incredibly alone. My circle of friends at that time were not interested in things like feeling pain, speaking truth, or self-reflection. Who could blame us, really?
I had myself tightly knit with people who lived in denial, thus allowing me the freedom to do the same. I didn’t even realize the cocoon I lived in until I took several steps away. It felt natural, and safe. Little did I know just how wrong I was…
Joining the blogging community has been such a completely different experience. I’ve found so many people who are interested in growth and healing of all sorts. Some from physical issues, others from emotional, mental, or spiritual ones. My own journey of healing and recovery was catapulted with the discovery of such a rich world of genuinely caring and tremendous people.
There are several such bloggers I’d love to highlight on this ‘blog hop’ I’m on, but today I’ve narrowed it down to two, plus a thank-you for the invitation to join in The Hop.
As part of The Hop, I’ll also answer 4 burning questions at the end! 😉
August 22, 2014
Facing Fear, Family, Personal Growth, Recovery, Trauma childhood trauma, facing fear, healing, Mental Health, motherhood, parenting, Suicidal, trauma 15 Comments
Robin Williams’ suicide continues to touch raw wounds.
I have the honor of sharing a deeply touching story from “Mary” today. She very eloquently describes what it’s like to be left behind the wake of a suicide.
“Mrs. M died today,” read my diary.
That’s all that’s written. Looking back, I just don’t think there was any more to say. How in the world could I explain it to my diary when at age 10, my best friend’s mom died and left us all bereft, swirling in a pool of uncertainty?
Now more than 30 years later, More
August 16, 2014
Facing Fear, Family, My Journey with God, Personal Growth, Recovery, Trauma abuse survivor, childhood trauma, depression, facing fear, finding freedom, healing, Mental Health, Suicidal, truth 35 Comments
The world lost a great man when Robin Williams took his own life this week. A genius, really. But more importantly, we lost a man in pain. Someone who decided he and his family were better off with him dead.
It is human nature to want to fill in the blanks. Why did he do it?
Does it really matter? Do we need a reason so we feel superior that we didn’t do the terrible deed?
The bottom line is: Pain is Pain.
Desperate pain results in desperate ideas and choices.
When I was suicidal, More
August 7, 2014
Facing Fear, Personal Growth, Recovery, Trauma abuse survivor, childhood trauma, emotional strength, Facing Adversity, facing fear, finding freedom, Forgiveness, getting help, gratitude, healing, Letting Go, personal growth, PTSD, recovery, Spiritual Journey, Struggle to Forgive, Suicidal, Transformation, trauma, truth, wearing masks 21 Comments
Feeling better seems to be a universal goal of humankind.
When we’re experiencing physical, emotional, or spiritual pain, the instinct to feel better can take on a life of its own. Most of us don’t even realize our subconscious is in overdrive doing whatever it takes to avoid bad feelings.
The problem is this: what makes us feel better usually isn’t what makes us get better.
Feeling Better More
June 14, 2014
Facing Fear, Family, Personal Growth, Recovery abuse survivor, childhood trauma, emotional strength, Facing Adversity, facing fear, finding freedom, healing, Lessons from Dad, truth 45 Comments
His lessons about life taught me no one is trustworthy.
His lessons about love taught me to control or be controlled.
His lessons about tolerance taught me no one is smart enough, good enough, or fast enough.
His lessons about security taught me danger is around every corner.
His lessons about confidence taught me if I didn’t think his way, there was hell to pay.
It’s taken years to undo the damage from those lessons.
