Author: blchalmers
Protected: You will never be forgiven for what you did.
I was drowning in my grief rather than sitting in it.
More and more each day I am realizing that our society is the cheer up society.
The idea of sadness terrifies us.
Sadness is a hallmark symptom of grief. It is the ultimate consequence of losing something or someone we care about. I consider sadness and love ultimately linked.
“Grief, I’ve learned, is really just love. It’s all the love you want to give, but cannot. All of that unspent love gathers in the corners of your eyes, the lump in your throat, and in the hallow part of your chest. Grief is just love with no place to go.” -Jamie Anderson
Grief is love.
But yet, we spend a significant amount of time trying to cheer people up.
Because we consider that being sad is bad.
However, I want to challenge you today to consider the idea that being sad isn’t bad.
It’s love.
I spent the first seven years of my grief drowning.
I was in the middle of an ocean of grief- desperately trying to keep my head above water.
My legs were concrete. My arms were large rocks.
I was tired.
Exhausted.
Consumed with my struggle.
I was drowning in my grief rather than sitting in it.
Everyone around me tried to comfort me. Tried to save me. Tried to cheer me up.
“He’s in a better place,”
“God will never give you more than you can handle,”
“He wouldn’t want you to be sad.”
These attempts to comfort me failed miserably. I didn’t need to be comforted. I needed to sit in my grief. I needed the permission to feel sad. I needed permission to feel.
In this clip from Inside Out you see Bing Bong lose something he loved.
Joy attempts to cheer him up. And fails.
Sadness sits with him. Sits with his grief. She empathizes with him.
This is what I needed. When I was drowning. I needed to sit in my grief.
If you know someone who has lost someone or something they love. Maybe something in their life has changed, sit with them. Sit with them even through the uncomfortableness of sadness. Encourage them to feel. Give them the permission they may need.
And remember- you are loved. And sad is not bad.
Grief is love with no place to go.
Grief lasts as long as love lasts- forever.
Somehow, I hope that love becomes light in all of our darknesses of grief.
I let my racing thoughts at 1 AM consume me.
Recently I shared a meme on Facebook.
It got a few likes, a share, a couple of comments. It was lighthearted. It made me laugh when I saw it. I shared it with no second thoughts.
Except last night, late at night, they crept in.
“You have no friends.”
“No one texts you.”
“No one asks how your day is.”
“No one likes you.”
These terrible, awful things I said to myself hurt.
I let my racing thoughts at 1 AM consume me.
All because of this meme:
I’ve never had many friends.
Growing up, I always felt like an outsider. I kept myself locked up because I was afraid of being rejected. Afraid of being made fun of. Afraid of people finding out what life was like at my house. The fighting. The screaming. The violence.
When I moved away from my old life- to another city- another school. I had the chance to be the real me. The me people would love.
But they didn’t. I was still so guarded. And my guard put up a really good front.
A “I don’t need you” front.
A “I’m better than you” front.
And this kind of continued into my adulthood.
I can not even count how many people have told me, “I thought you were stuck up when I met you.”
Well, I’m not.
How could I possibly be stuck up when half of the time I’m not certain if I even like myself? When I’m down, I’m
D
O
W
N.
I’m just guarded. Afraid. Terrified of being rejected. Petrified of being vulnerable.
This is something I have worked HARD on the past 4-5 years. Trying to show the real me. The genuine me. The me who cares and loves so deeply. The me who has hid for far too long. The me who has made mistakes. And has tried to right them.
The me who could be an amazing friend if you gave me the chance.
However, change doesn’t happen overnight. It also doesn’t always happen in 4-5 years… no matter how hard we try.
I am still guarded.
My walls around myself are so high that they may not be worth climbing.
But that doesn’t mean I need to take the negative self-talk. The terrible, ugly things I say to myself late at night. The LIES my mind tells me. The lies that leave me in tears.
“You have no friends.”
“No one texts you.”
“No one asks how your day is.”
“No one likes you.”
These are not truths.
I do have friends. Not many- not many that I talk to on a regular basis- but they exist.
People do text me. My husband and I text each and every day. And he ALWAYS asks how my day is going.
I’m sure someone likes me? My husband loves me. My mom thinks I’m cool. Doesn’t that count?
I’m done talking so ugly to myself. Why do we do this to ourselves? We feed ourselves inaccurate information that we absolutely accept as truth without challenging it.
I want to challenge you: combat the negative self-talk you may say to yourself. Ask yourself- “Is this actually true?” instead of accepting it as fact.
And never give up on goals you set for yourself. This blog is the gateway to a more transparent me. A less guarded me. A vulnerable me. A me that is hopeful for the future. And worthy of being loved.
When I’m a Mom, I’ll never…
Three years ago I was seriously contemplating not having children.
I was thrilled with my work, my marriage, and my free time to do things I enjoyed. And then we had Greyson. Our 99th percentile baby boy.
Becoming a parent changes you. Your priorities change. And before you know it, you’re doing every single thing you SWORE you’d never do.
I said I would never let my living room become the play area. MY child would keep their toys in their room. Neat. Tidy. Orderly.
Yet, this is how my living room looks daily. We seem to reset it 100 times a day, only to let Greyson bring us back to this.
I said I would never let my child get messy for meals. MY child would be civilized and I would teach him to eat properly (go ahead and laugh at that one). He would also NEVER eat fatty foods like bread and pasta. And he would certainly NEVER have mac n’ cheese, HA!
However, we now just go ahead and strip him for meals because the mess is inevitable plus it’s part of the fun (sensory development, am I right?).
I also said I would keep a clean house. A child keep me from cleaning? What?!
Yet now I don’t even bother sweeping up his crumbs because I have learned the pasta (that he would NEVER eat) will get dried up and easier to sweep in the morning.
This list of “the things I would never let MY child do” could go on and on and on but you get the point, right?
All these things do is bring on the Mom guilt.
There’s always some Mom doing things better than you.
Their kid only eats vegetables. Their kid uses a spoon at 7 months. Their kid only plays in their room. Their kids sleeps all night. Their kid shows no sign of teething. Their kid naps on a schedule and always, always lets them catch up on their shows. Their kid absolutely does not bite them with their newly developed teeth.
All of these things bring the guilt on.
It can make you feel CRAZY.
And I’ve been there. I went a little crazy for a bit.
I tried, relentlessly, to keep our house clean. To keep Greyson on the world’s most perfect schedule.
But it didn’t work. I continuously fell short because I kept doing all the things I said I would never do. And all the things other Mom’s said they were not doing.
And I was diagnosed with Postpartum Depression. The diagnosis I said I would never get because I would be the best Mom. The most researched Mom. The do-it-all Mom.
But I got help. I got on medication. I handled business.
Some days are still tough. I feel overwhelmed. I cry in parking lots. I’m only human. But some days I feel like SUPER MOM. I vacuum the house. I do my homework. I get Greyson to giggle for 5 minutes straight. I “do-it-all”.
And I’m done saying never. Who knows what I’ll be letting Greyson do next month. It changes daily- for survival. Can I get an Amen?
Up, up, and Away
As a child, I was the kid in class with the highest Accelerated Reader (AR) points. My star on the bulletin board far surpassing all the other children in my class. I was also that nerdy girl who competed on a Battle of the Books team and read every single book on the list. Reading was one of the greatest joys of my childhood.
Reading transported me to another world.
A world far away from the violent screams of my ex-stepfather.
Far away from the home I lived in that was heated by a measly kerosene heater and sheets hung up in the doorways to keep every last bit of warmth from escaping.
Far away from my hand-me-down clothes from the girls I went to school with.
Far away from the nightmares that plagued me by day.
Far away from the panicked pleas of my mother to please not hurt her.
Far away from the world where my father took his own life.
Books were my escape.
In a different sense, they still are. Reading is my own version of self-care. When I want to make time for myself all I picture is a good read and a beverage (coffee or green tea preferred). As a new mother, reading time is scarce. Between my regular work and my two side jobs I stay busy, add my coursework in the mix and reading time is almost nonexistent. However, I know as well as anyone- you make time for the things you want to make time for.
So here I am, in 2018, making time for reading.
No excuses.
I decided to follow the Books-A-Million Book Club list for the non-fiction and literary selections.
I started a bit late so I’m wrapping up January’s pick for the non-fiction category and will shortly be moving along to February’s selections. If you need a review just let me know and I will try to get to you.
This is one of my self-care strategies for Randy’s deployment and just for life in general.
Although I am no longer that 2nd grader with a time traveling machine that transported me as soon as I turned the page- I am a 29 year old woman who enjoys diving into another world.
Trauma may have been what facilitated my love of reading; but escaping reality is what maintained it.
Books help balance me. They ground me. They saved me as a child and they delight me as an adult.
What’s your escape?
That time I cried in Panda Express’s parking lot
There are some nice perks to being a military spouse- great health insurance, a stable income, and even discounts on subs from Firehouse. But there are unique struggles that those of us who share our lives with a military member.
Go ahead, say what you’re thinking: “you signed up for it.”
Cringe.
Okay, in a sense one may have an idea of what their life will resemble when you marry a military member. Deployments, separation from family and loved ones, the unavoidable moves.
Except there are moments you can not possibly prepare for.
Like crying in your car during your lunch break because you imagine your son eating “adult food” like a champ and your husband missing it. Missing it all. His inevitable first steps. First real words. Major developmental milestones.
Yes. I knew what I “signed up for” in a sense. But I couldn’t possibly see the hurt and pain and heartache I would struggle with in the future.
I thought military spouses were supposed to be strong. Resilient. Unbreakable.
I was wrong.
Some days I do feel strong. I push forward. I treat myself to face masks and happily work my side job editing papers after putting my son to sleep.
Other nights, I cry myself to sleep.
And that’s okay.
With all this said, just remember that on your lunch break when the tears flow freely and your heart feels heavy and achy- this isn’t the end. You might wake up the following day renewed and ready to take on the world. You might do a face mask and binge watch Gossip Girl. You’ll never know if you don’t try.
Keep pushing through the tough days- the sun will rise tomorrow.
Counselor with a Counselor
Four years ago my anxiety was at an all time high. I was suffering from irritability and excessive worries. I was also having worrisome palpitations and insomnia that made me feel as if I were dying. During this time I penned a poem to help process my symptoms.
Right on the Brink
My heart beats quickly,
my mind moves slow.
These feelings, lately,
I’ve come to know.
My palms feel sticky,
my hands are shaking.
I’m falling deeper and deeper
in the chaos I’m making.
I’m barely treading water;
I slowly start to sink.
I’m on the edge of tears,
I’m right on the brink.
I start wishing that I
could take a step back.
Out of my mind
and this panic attack.
I was crying myself to sleep at night and filling my head with self-doubt and negative self-talk a plenty. I was falling apart.
However, these were the photos I was posting on social media:
Big, happy smiles were plastered across my face. The front I showed the world covered my hurt and pain. Randy was deployed at the time and I was doing everything in my power to appear strong. I put up a strong front but inside I was falling apart.
Why do we do this to ourselves?
Keep the facade.
Save face.
Build tall walls around ourselves.
Because we are scared. Vulnerability is terrifying.
Processing my anxiety and my instability through a poem gave me clarity. It allowed me to admit to myself how I was feeling at the time.
So here I am- 3 years later doing the same thing. Feeling as if I’m slipping into a funk and processing it through writing.
Except this time I’m not faking it. This time I’m telling a different narrative.
This time I’m telling the truth.
Yesterday I had an appointment with my psychiatrist who manages my medication that helps me survive and thrive despite my depression and anxiety.
It was a good appointment; just a check-in. The selfie above is me waiting in his office. However, I did decide to schedule a counseling appointment. It’s been years since I’ve been in counseling but here I am- needing a refresher.
We don’t have to pretend to be perfect. It’s unhelpful and exhausting.
Be your true self.
Don’t save face.
It isn’t worth it. And it’s lonely.
I challenge you: be vulnerable. It helps keep things in balance; the right balance.
The Write Balance 