Thank You
Art Credit: by Trule Bonar
Years ago, I had no idea what gratitude was.
I was struggling to make it through each day and had no extra emotional power to “give thanks”.
Not to mention that my life was such a mess that there wasn’t much to give thanks for.
Oh, I knew how to say “thank you” when a kindness was bestowed but they were just words. I couldn’t access the deep well of gratitude that lives in the center of my chest next to my heart.
What a long road to hoe to get there. You know what I mean.
Gratitude
Back then, I wanted to die, I could barely take the next breath, and I felt unloved with nowhere to share the waves of love that rose from the atriums of my heart.
My epiphany was discovering I could deposit that love inside of myself. Love myself so, someday, I’d be prepared to love someone else. Today, my grace before meals often says, “thank you for life, thank you for breath, thank you for love.”
Thanksgiving
As we move into the Thanksgiving season, I remember that this was a triggering time for me, as it may be for you, each of us for our own reasons. It’s a family time and, for some of us, broken families bring forth more pain, more loss, more abandonment.
Giving Thanks for Yourself
I wish for each of you a week of gratitude but, barring that, a week where you find some way to give thanks for yourself.
And if you can’t, I can.
You
You, who are out there in cybersphere: I may know you through Dissociative Writers, or through emails you send me to tell me your story, or, I may not know you at all, but recognize your name on the newsletter mailing list. You are a real flesh and blood person who lives in an apartment or house, in a community, in a region, either alone or with a family, maybe with a career or stay-at-home or on public assistance, maybe “out” about your diagnosis or hiding quietly so no one knows and no one can take your job, friends, or position in the community away because of it.
I know you are brave because you’re still “keeping on keeping on” in spite of the challenges you face. I know you are lonely because there are some things we won’t share even with our intimate partners. I know you are smart (maybe brilliant 🙂) because you used a creative coping strategy to survive. I know you are overflowing with love that you may or may not have access to because of your torturous history.
I Thank You For …
I thank you, for being you, someone who relates to me and someone I relate to, if only through these newsletters.
Thank you for reading my musings and helping me get this blog going.
Thank you for contributing a guest blog post on occasion, or at least thinking about it ☺️.
Thank you for reading my memoir, Crazy: Reclaiming Life from the Shadow of Traumatic Memory, and for rating/reviewing it on Amazon, or at least thinking about it 😀.
Thank you for coming to Dissociative Writers (DW) workshops, giving feedback and sometimes sharing your own writing, or at least thinking about it 😉.
Thank you for contributing your gifts to DW in a whole variety of ways, or at least thinking about it 😇.
Thank you for being a part of this unique community that never wished ourselves into existence but grew forth out of the necessity of common experience 🥰.
Today, I am in touch with the deep well of gratitude that lives in the center of my chest next to my heart because of you. Thank you.
Self-Care
How will you get through this holiday? Will it be a piece of cake (or turkey, as the case may be) or a swamp to slog through? Your most important priority is YOU. Make a list of each of your alters — and let them do the same! — and write why you’re thankful they exist. Even if they are giving you a hard time right now, think of at least one good, great, wonderful reason for saying thank you. When you’re giving thanks for your alters, you’re actually giving thanks for yourself!
Have a restful, peaceful holiday, and love yourself ❤️. Happy Thanksgiving 🦃!
Health Update
After testing negative for Covid all week two weeks ago, I finally tested positive Saturday a week ago. Both my husband and I took Paxlovid for five days and rested as our immune systems grew stronger. We are both well and starting to go out and about with our doctor’s blessings. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers 🙏🏻.
Happy Thanksgiving
Workshops are canceled this week for the holiday. Our next writing-in-place workshop is scheduled for Tuesday, November 29th at 1:00 pm Eastern (12 pm Central, 11 am Mountain, 10 am Pacific). We look forward to seeing you then!
In December, we’ll have traditional workshop on December 6th, writing-in-place on December 13th, and social hangout on December 20th, all at 1:00pm Eastern. The first workshop in January on the 3rd is traditional.
🕊
When I started counting my blessings, my whole life turned around.
~ Willie Nelson
Lyn