A new kind of comfort?
a view from the rollercoaster
raw. open. exposed. come on in
#veryhumanrollercoaster #traumarecovery
The picture is not always clear. And sometimes there are giant big barriers in the way. Mind barriers that block the picture and keep us in trapped darkness. And the path forward feels like a distant light at the end of a frightening tunnel; an opening that we can see will lead us to a new place but to get there … oh to get there …. involves putting down our baggage and taking off those worn shoes and bending ourselves into a different, unfamiliar, uncomfortable shape, so we can start crawling.
Every time I think I’ve braved up and I’m on my knees crawling, I realise that’s just wishful fantasy. I’m still standing frozen to my spot and looking at the tiny opening at the end of a giant big barrel of old patterns.
And what’s my oldest pattern of all? It’s more than a pattern, it’s a well carved pathway to backwards and we travel it with ease. It’s become our resting place. We know this view and we like it, just the way it is. Broken and damaged and never able …. because that’s the only view they showed us on repeat. But now we have an entire travel brochure of potential new views in our hands. And we can see that opening in the distance. If only …. If only …. If only ….
Our passport says “not allowed”
Oh, wait, that passport has expired.
A new one was issued only we haven’t take it out of its envelope yet
It says “worthy”
The picture is not always clear
but today we are feeling braver
Photo by Kendall
writing by Kendall, Leo and Marc
How was this Art Therapy for Self?
We used photography (with our phone) to process some big thoughts and feelings. Thoughts and feelings we traditionally run away from. Today we looked for images from our surroundings that we felt captured our fear and our self imposed barriers and the desire we feel to break through and do things differently. Once we found this log which helped us speak, we began to self regulate with photograph as we took shots from different angles (much like our thinking). In doing this, we stayed calm enough to stay with the thoughts and tolerate the feelings as we let them all sink in. We feel like today was a growth day.
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How to join: please come in
Many many days we feel alone or lost or just utterly discombobulated (fave word). Other days we feel like we are awash with wisdom or insight or hope. It's a rollercoaster alright!
Probably the most vital thing for us on our journey is that we are not travelling alone. We have the world's most magnificent friends, access to amazing therapy and a whole lot of serendipity of perhaps divine intervention?
I don't know about you, but rollercoasters all alone are no fun. So let's share the ride - the more the merrier, as "they" say (who are "they" anyway? This time "they" are right).
So here's where we share openly and authentically and expose ourselves with all our bits and pieces. At first we wanted to title this section "hanging out the dirty laundry" but then we realised it wasn't dirty, it was just life.
So please, journey with us. Let's hold one another and find encouragement in togetherness as we go Doooooown and UP. Because we always do. Smile
Same as always, follow along, add your own, riff off ours.
If you're feeling brave, post your versions in our comment feed so others can be inspired too. Or upload to your own social media (be sure to use our hashtags - #veryhumanrollercoaster - so we can find each other). Either way, make sure to comment on posts by others and encourage one another as we find new voices.
The only rules are: RESPECT!
See you in there!
Leonora et al