Tag: perseverance
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Avoidance Creates Anxiety
It started out relatively small. For reasons related to trauma, I have harbored a deep-seated distaste for country music and a hatred of Valentine’s Day, both of which have taken ownership of significant chunks of my life. How did something so little grow to consume such a big portion of my life? Easy…the answer is…
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It’s the Least Wonderful Time of the Year
Dreadful January. After all the cheery decorations get packed away, the friends and relatives end the revelry and return to their respective homes, and we all stop eating special foods to celebrate every single holiday, we are faced with a sobering reality. With its bills piling up and short daylight hours, January strips us of…
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Lessons Learned
This year has been a year of intense learning, not just in a formal education setting as I pursue my Master of Social Work, but also through revelations in the day-to-day as I sat silently, prayed, listened, and reflected. I am a work in progress. I love lifelong learning. So each lesson means the world…
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From Pain to Purpose
She sits across from me – at a sushi restaurant, a coffee shop, in a living room. We tell each other stories – about our kids, our travels, our days. We laugh…until we don’t. Her face and tone change. She opens up about the abuse or the assault years ago – at the hands of…
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Drowning in Sorrow
There is a part in a book by Lewis Carroll called “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” where the main character, Alice, is so distraught, she begins to cry. Her adventures have been too taxing, too bizarre, too isolating, too frightful, too difficult to bear that the tears well up in her eyes and spill over, splashing…
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This Imperfect Life
I was watching Moulin Rouge with my husband on Saturday night. I’ve seen this movie countless times before and appreciated it for its artistic approach to storytelling. I have never had an issue with this movie, so I immediately chose it when it popped up as an option. The movie started as usual. There are…
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Rage Hurts; Words Heal
In the aftermath of experiencing a traumatic event, survivors go through stages akin to the grieving process. Trauma leads to anguish and grief because it almost always stems from a loss – of autonomy, innocence, or health, to name just a few – and so, grief sets in. The grieving process is chaotic. The stages…
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Dear Younger Me
I look back on photos of a slimmer, slightly less wrinkled version of myself and I don’t wish I was her all over again. But I do wish I could talk to her. I wish I could sit with her and listen as she unpacked her pain. I wish I could help her make heads…
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Demystifying PTSD
I’m going to start by saying something controversial that some people will find hard to accept: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) isn’t a lack of faith or a stand-alone mental health issue – it is the side effect of an injury done the psyche, body, soul, and/or moral code of an individual. Symptoms I list…
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A Few of My Favorite Things
I’m a list maker. I find satisfaction in brain-dumping what rolls around in my mind onto a piece of paper so the thoughts upstairs don’t drive me absolutely batty or threaten to instigate a system overload. I love the little dopamine boost I get by checking things off my neat little lists. I even add…
Wisdom from the Trenches 