Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Believe


Tis the season to believe. I know that during this time of the year it is referring to believing in the miracle of Christ's birth or believing in the magic of Santa. However, I am not a Christian and I have issues with the fat man in a red suit. So the word 'believe' has a different feel to me. It symbolizes a belief in Love and Hope. It symbolizes knowing that all will be well and that life is good. It symbolizes that there is something bigger than me in this world.

When I was sitting and gazing upon our decorated tree, I saw this ornament and I felt a nudge from my soul. Actually it was more of a push. It was as if my soul was telling me to pay attention. You see, I have been at odds with Love and Hope for quite some time now. And I have successfully been able to push those bad feelings down, but it is time to let them out to breathe. Time to let them out so I can let them go. 

I don't know how or when it began, but I find myself doubting everything I have ever believed to be true. I find myself feeling lost and confused a lot of the time. I am annoyed by religious people. I am annoyed by spiritual people. I am annoyed by happy people. I am annoyed by sad people. Basically I am annoyed by people. It's not easy to put that out here. I know that it makes me look like a bitter, sad human. And I am. I just don't tell anyone about it. I've been here before many times.

I hole up in my house and try my hardest to not let my family or friends know the truth of how I am feeling inside. I have never asked them if they could tell that I was not in a good place, so I have no idea if they have ever known or not. 

This time around some of them are noticing. I'm losing my edge. I'm losing my ability to keep myself hidden from them. I can't keep up the dance anymore. 

This is hard. It is hard to know that the people I cherish most, can see me as this bitter and sad person that I feel I have become. I'm here in this hard place because I feel I have nothing to believe in. I know that there is something out there. I just can't find it right now. I'm searching. I'm not just giving up and letting sadness and bitterness win. It's a slow process. 

It's going to be get harder, but I know that it is necessary. I have to trudge through this muck so that I can come out on the other side. I know I've been here. It feels very familiar. It's a nightmare I have lived through before. I'm here, so I know that I got through that one and I can get through this one. 

I just found something I believe. I believe that I can get through this.

Monday, December 1, 2014

Dearest Dreadful December

December is here again. It is hard to face December, because it is a time of being with family and friends and, at the same time, it is a time of deep introspection for me. A time when I pull back from the world and go into hiding. Hibernation if you will. It is hard to gather with people when all you want to do is disappear.

This year is no different. It's not December, though, it's me. December is simply a month on the calendar. It doesn't bring the baggage, I already own it. For many years, I have dreaded the coming of December, specifically the Christmas holiday. Yet, at the same time, I have cherished what the season brings.  

It brings time with my Mr. Man and the Littles, that I would not otherwise have. It brings Winter in and the promise of the returning of the light.  December means beautiful holiday light displays and some of the most peaceful and nostalgic music to listen to. December brings lovely family traditions, some from my childhood and some created by my Mr. Man and myself for our children.

As much as I try to focus on the good that ushers in with December, I find myself clinging to the darkness.  To the pain that others deal with during this time of holiday cheer.  To SAD that always sneaks in as well. To this feeling of being broken that follows me.

I get angry about all the gift giving. Not because I don't like giving. I like giving. I don't like the idea of giving "stuff" to people who have everything they could possibly need when there are people around me who have so little. I really want to take the money we spend on presents for family and friends and give it to those who don't have the option of buying presents for family and friends.

Don't get me wrong, we do give to those less fortunate during the holiday season, but in my eyes, we don't give enough. We can't possibly give enough. Why does there have to be so much value on buying this and that? Why does there have to be this made up dude who brings presents for all the good little boys and girls, but not if you're poor or homeless.  Santa only caters to certain good little boys and girls. 

The crazy thing is that I'm guilty of the Santa lie and this tradition of gift-giving. One of my biggest parenting regrets. I grew up loving Christmas because it meant I was going to get a ton of presents. I remember very little from my childhood, but I do remember that excitement and wonder. I want my kids to feel that excitement and wonder. I just wish that those feelings of excitement and wonder could come without the presents. 

I know that I was just a kid, but I didn't care that all those presents put my parents in financial debt every year. My mom did her best, I'm sure, to make sure that we knew the real meaning behind Christmas. But in reality, I just wanted those gifts. I wanted to sit around the tree with all my siblings and be surrounded by a sea of wrapping paper and boxes. I'm pretty sure that if a Grinch had ever stolen my Christmas, there would have been no singing and roast beast eating. There would have been a lot of crying and wailing. Sad.

I feel like a failure as a parent every year at this time. I have always been one to do better when I knew better, but this whole "Christmas" thing gets me every year. I have empathy for the less fortunate, but will I give up the gift buying for them? Heck no. Will I give up the look of joy on my kids faces when they open that new "thing"? Heck no. We, as a family, don't volunteer our time for the needy. We take part in an Adopt a Family each year, but that is the extent of it. We don't expose our children to the reality of the less fortunate. We talk about it, but we don't expose them to it.  Sad.

So will this December be no different than the years past? Will I spend it feeling more Scrooge-like than Who-like? Will I be resentful about the amount of money we spend and guilty that we don't do more for those less fortunate than us? Will I long for a peaceful, calm holiday season where we fill it with experiences with each other in place of gifts? 

I don't know the answer to any of these questions today, but I do know that something has to change. My expectations, my perceptions or my actions have to change. Perhaps all of them? I guess I will have to see how this dearest dreadful December plays out. Will I continue to choose a December being stressed out and Scrooge-like? Or will I choose a December filled with peaceful content. 

I feel the pull of both. 




Monday, November 17, 2014

An Unsolicited Tip



Perhaps there are clouds in your life.  Situations that are wearing you down or quite possibly beating the shit out of you.  You may or may not have any control over the situation.  You may or may not have the strength to fight.  You know in your head that there is nothing that you can do, even though the reality might be different.  People will offer you all kinds of encouraging advice to help you get through it.  Advice that, mostly, comes from a place of love.  However, it may also come from a place of control or a place of annoyance.  And what they want you to do, no matter where it comes from, is HARD.

Don't do anything they have offered.  Just don't.

The simplest of suggestions is monumentally hard when that shit storm is swirling around you. Don't make it worse by taking on the guilt of not being able to feel better.

Simply tell them "thank you" and then don't do any of it.  Remember what they gave you, but don't try any of it until you can.

You'll know when that is possible.

So what can you do?  When all seems lost and you just don't want to try anymore?  Or when there is nothing you can do about any of it anyway?

What can you do?

Simply this.  Close your eyes.  Place your hand upon your heart.  Feel it.  Feel every beat.

That's you.  You're a living, breathing person.  You are a miracle.  

Now think of another living being human (or animal) that is probably happy that YOU have a heartbeat.  Maybe they need you or maybe they are just happy that you are simply living on this earth.

If you can't think of any other living creature, then think of me.  I will be that person for you today.

Let the realization, that there is at least one other being in your world that is happy that you are alive, sit within your heart.  Carry that with you through the day.  Let it be the thing that just gets you through this moment in time.

You are going to have many days where you can face the storm and keep on keepin' on.  You are going to have many days when you can't.  Turn to your heart on those days.  Let your heartbeat show you the miracle that you are.

Our days are all numbered.  We all have the same number of hours in a day to either get it right or suck at it.  And as long as that heartbeat is present, we are going to get it right and we are going to suck.

But one thing remains constant.

We are all alive.  

We all wake up in the morning with the life we have.  So either live it or let the heartbeat lead you along.  Either way you are still alive.

You are still a miracle.

Someone is happy about that.





Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Seeing and Being Me

I haven't been here for a very long time.  As I sit here writing this, I feel a ton of resistance. Uncertainty. Writing feels foreign to me. Like I've never done it before. Why am I writing this? Who am I talking to? Am I even visible to people? Being invisible has been my super power. If things ever got tough, I could make myself invisible in the wink of an eye. Poof! I'm gone. I can retreat deep within the caves of my soul and just hide there.

Sometimes it feels safe there. Safe from the watchful eyes and harsh judgement of others. Safe from people looking at me in disgust. Safe from being reminded that I just don't fit in. That I weigh too much. That my hair is too gray. That I can't take care of my kids, my home or my husband.

Other times it feels confining and scary. Like I'm being held prisoner. Trying to find the way out, but not being able to see through the darkness. And I would stay in the darkness until I felt brave enough to attempt to feel my way out.

In both cases I would always reappear, ready to take on the world. Renewed and refreshed. Until the next time I needed to be invisible. Its a vicious cycle. One that needed to be broken. In both cases the only one I was really hiding from was myself.  It was my watchful eyes and harsh judgement that I needed to escape from. I was the only one holding myself captive in scary dark places. I was the one who made it possible to be invisible.

Why? Why would anyone want to be invisible? I'm sure that there is all kinds of psychology behind why a person would want to be invisible and why they let their own self-loathing push them into hiding. And the Virgo in me wants to research that and learn all about it and then file it away into my organized file of "Things I Will Just Forget". Honestly, though, I don't care. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter because it doesn't apply to me anymore. I have relinquished my invisibility powers. *Poof* 

Did I consciously do this? No. I had no idea that I was going to wake up one day and "see" myself as worthy of being visible. I had no idea that one act on my part would catapult me fully into my whole self.

Something as simple as cutting my hair. Well, shaving my head, to be specific. I suppose its not everyday that a woman shaves her head, but it was a simple act. I did it with a friend, who was doing it because of chemotherapy. It didn't feel like a big deal for me. It was just something I could do with a friend who wasn't getting a choice about it. 

I had no idea that my life would change forever. That my spirit would light up and I would feel a sense of freedom from the chains that I used to bind myself with. To be honest, I do think that my soul knew that I hid behind my hair. I have entertained the idea of shaving my head in the past, but quickly dismissed it as crazy. Certain that I would be cast out by my family and friends. So instead, I let it grow longer. And longer. I determined that my long locks were symbolic of the Wild Woman inside of me that was going to make her way out.... someday.

So here she is. Demanding that I drop the invisibility shit. Demanding that I drop regrets and fears and self-limiting thoughts. I still have gray hair. I am still overweight. I'm still not a perfect mother, wife or housekeeper. Those things no longer define who I am. Without regret, fear and feeling worthless, those parts of me are just parts of me. Parts of the whole package. 

And I think this whole package is pretty amazing. And happy. And joyous. And free.  Ready to be seen. Ready to be me.