#TherapyThursday| Purge

Welcome to Therapy Thursday everyone. Let’s get comfy.

As we enter into the last quarter of this year, I’m ready to do a LOT of introspecting. Are you ready to dig a little deeper? Look at what worked, what failed or fell short of expectations and why? Where you let yourself soar, where you let fear take the reins, where you dropped the ball?

I am.

I have so much from the last year (really, the last 3 years or so) to release. Even though September is such a triumphant month, being Recovery Month and all, and I’ve had some choice victories this 9 months, it’s been a roller-coaster 30 days.

Let me be so transparent with you, Saran wrap transparent:

I have struggled with clinical depression, anxiety, and seasonal affective disorder for 5-6 years, more like 10, really.

I am a survivor with invisible battle scars, who has chosen to bring those scars to light.

In the course of moving a week ago, I found a treasure trove of old drawings, sketches and paintings dating back to 2006. I didn’t have a medical term or label then, just some histrionic tendencies, and a whole lot of drama and brokenness. We had a running joke in my maternal family, that the more intellectual prowess you displayed, the more likely you were to be unstable emotionally.

Oh, boy, was I a hot mess!! and to see, just how far I’ve come… Here’s a glimpse into my mind, then:

 

Images from the darkest periods of my life, and this not even the half! (I should write a book, y’all.)

This is how I purge, how I clean house, how I divulge what was secret shame and rebirth in new light–creative outlets, and I encourage you to find what suits you. Thank you for allowing me to share. with you all. Truly God has brought me a long way. 😀

 

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#TuesdayTea| Replenish

Welcome to TuesdayTea! Come, grab a mug, pull up a chair and rest a spell. Today, let’s do a bit of replenishing.

I have missed you, just a little. Transparent Moment: I have been going through a lull in transition, a mild episode of depression. Maybe it’s the seasons changing; time to shift for the home stretch of the year–and do some introspection along the way.

This too shall pass.

So, today my sister had this brilliant idea to play a wild card game with quote cards. We each will center our thoughts around 3 snippets most relevant to our life and purpose for this season. Sounds fun, yeah?

Here’s the first:

“No matter where life takes you…the place where you stand at any moment is holy ground. Love hard and love wide and love long, and you will find the goodness in it.”–Susan Vreeland, Lisette’s List

I have Affirmed:

I Am a vital being. I have the fullness of life inside me. I am a temple of the Holy Spirit. I embody love, because God is Love and He is pleased to dwell within me.

When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father,[e]  the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth.[f] 
I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. 
Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong.
And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is.
 May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

–Paul, Ephesians 3:14-19

Check out the verbs there, y’all: Love empowers you in your innermost spirit. Love grounds you when the entire world is upside-down and running backwards. Love that is so great it fills the expanse of the universe, yet cannot be weighed fully or even fathomed in its magnificence, will complete me. Love will fill in the gaps, will sustain me.

Everything is going to be alright. I repeat, every thing is going to be alright.

Stop fretting, stop worrying, stop recycling through anxious thoughts and defeated attitudes. God graces us with the strength and power to obtain the victory.

May you rest in that grace, in the fullness of love this week.