mental health moments

A Returning Wave

Trigger warning: Suicide Awareness

I have focused these few posts on suicide awareness, knowing that many of you may have no idea what it is like to have such depths or intensity of pain. Others may relate to seasons (whether it comes in hours, days, months, or moments) of feeling beyond what you are able to endure, and overwhelmed….again.

These are the frameworks I’m attempting to put words to. If we can articulate it, we can begin to make sense of it, particularly with the presence of an empathic witness. In that, we are no longer alone — we are felt, known, understood and brought near.

There is a sense in which you can feel untethered, or beyond reach or too far gone. And sometimes it is really hard to hold on. It can come up like a returning wave, or like a familiar feeling entering the room for a visit. Understandably so, we don’t like these visitors. It can feel heavy beyond our ability to lift. But what if it was just a part of us that we could begin to see, to recognize, or to give voice to?

How to Heal: A reflection on pain and frustration

We are biologically wired to connect and integrate. And when things come up that hurt us or scare us, we get this urge to fight, run away, or avoid it.

What do you notice happening in your body when something feels painful or frustrating? What is your gut response?

We don’t heal by stuffing, avoiding, denying or minimizing pain. We don’t heal by spiritually bypassing. We don’t heal by self-medicating or by trading one addiction for another.

We heal by having the courage to face hard things with strong support. We can work through what has been unresolved or passed down, and find safe people who can hold space that allows us to heal and grow. That act of courage changes the pattern for generations.

Savoring the moments to refuel

We are reflecting together about the concept of time. Starting with just a little, and even that small step can make a difference.

Have you ever found that there never seems to be enough? Does time ever get away from you?

How do we, then, slow it down? Or savor it?