Sligeanach's journal

[sligeanach]

I have "body keeps the score" and "surviving to thriving" downloaded on Overdrive. I kept *losing* the books and *forgetting* that I was reading them. But my phone is obviously nearby all the time, so I can read a screen or two of one or the other from time to time

[sligeanach]

So grateful for "Quick Reply"
The loading time and wall of smileys is enough to stop me writing

[sligeanach]

Years of protecting myself at all cost, as my only motivation, severing whole portions of my life, my self, becoming smaller and smaller, and being smaller feeling more in danger, and and so on round and round until nothing is left

[sligeanach]

"it could end, you know, with me going out altogether, like a candle. And she wondered what the flame of a candle looked like when it was blown out, for she could not recall ever having seen such a thing

[Armee]

That's my approach, too, to reading those books. On my phone, a paragraph or page at a time.

I hope instead of getting smaller and smaller, eventually it becomes safe for you to grow into who you are meant to be, without the trauma tainting it.

[sligeanach]

that is my hope for us all, Armee

[sligeanach]

"You can never love another person unless you are equally involved in the beautiful but difficult spiritual work of learning to love yourself. There is within each of us, at the soul level, an enriching fountain of love. In other words, you do not have to go outside yourself to know what love is. This is not selfishness, and it is not narcissism; they are negative obsessions with the need to be loved. Rather this is the wellspring of love within the heart." -- Anam Cara, by John O'Donohue

[sligeanach]

"It's you I like,
It's not the things you wear,
It's not the way you do your hair
But it's you I like

The way you are right now,
The way down deep inside you
Not the things that hide you,
Not your toys
They're just beside you.

But it's you I like
Every part of you.
Your skin, your eyes, your feelings
Whether old or new

I hope that you'll remember
Even when you're feeling blue
That it's you I like,
It's you yourself
It's you.
It's you I like."

-- Fred Rogers

[Hope67]

Hi Sligeanach,
I read this poem that you wrote (by Fred Rogers) earlier today, and was thinking about it whilst I made my breakfasr.  I think it's such a lovely poem, and I think that parts of myself enjoyed the fact I was recalling it, as it is really non-judgemental and really kind and welcoming of every part of a person. 
Hope 

[sligeanach]

:-) to you Hope

Mister Rogers was one of the kindest people ever

[sligeanach]

Sunlight shining through a window reveals smoke and dust in the air, but only fresh air blowing in pushes it out

[sligeanach]

I want to be the same person everywhere

The bell chimes, inviting me to remember that I am

Why should I let ghosts of the long past destroy my future?

"Think you of the fact that a blind person cannot see. What senses do we lack that we cannot see and hear another world all around us?"

Cleaning the kitchen is easy. What is cleaning? It is moving what is unwanted from one place to another. Away and out

[sligeanach]

Better to do one thing at a time, and fully do that one thing only.

[sligeanach]

Five fingers become one fist, they are the same hand of doing
Destruction is mindless, needing only one blow
Creating is mindful, needing all five fingers
Kindness and cruelty are counted on the same hand, they have the same weight
Five fingers, one fist
Thus kindness seems smaller, five kindnesses weigh the same as one cruelty

[Armee]

That's really powerful, Sligenach. The one about the fist. Did you write that?