...as a survivor of suicidal depression...
Making the decision to speak about this scary and taboo topic has brought many questions to my doorstep.
Are you talking about it now because you are still suicidal?
What do you think God thinks about it?
Why didn't you do it?
What stops you today?
What triggers the thoughts??
How come you do not know you are loved? Matter?
So many complicated thoughts, I shall try to tackle over the next days.
I kow there are more people out there thinking about suicide than we care to know, admit, and face.
I hope that by my honesty about how I face the situation, I may empower others to face their depression and inspire others to reach out to help.
Stay tuned.
The cycle of help is one that often alludes us. We know how to give help, but do we know the power of asking for help to transform our lives and others? I will share the research that went into my workbook as well as all that I have personally experienced by learning how to ask for help in a healthy and balanced way.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Friday, October 22, 2010
Get Out of Jail Free!
I am starting a new project today with the local Character Counts organization. We are bringing character based life skills training to the newly paroled.Talk about new beginnings. I am humbled by the opportunity to help others begin anew.
What a powerful opportunity to see and experience the place of choice. Many of us will never know what it is like to be behind bars. Many of us have. The walls of a the psyche ward were for me as powerful as bars. Last year I spent time on a psyche ward, after I spoke about wanting to kill myself. I remember the first evening when friends came to visit and I was not allowed to leave. In this moment, I can feel the shame, the fear, the despair. I can choose to keep my self in those feelings OR NOT!
Today I get to help others see there IS a way to start fresh. It is by choosing to do things differently. It is about just taking the next right step. We all face situations that are hard, overwhelming and often paralyzing. Well today I am choosing to step forward, inch by inch. Step into something new, something that I am called to do and something I know will make a difference in this world.
I am no different than anyone else. We all have our fears. We are all able to choose. Today I choose Hope, Today I choose Self respect. Today I choose LOVE!
Monday, September 27, 2010
Where Can Fine Artists Receive Career Help?
I have supported creative teams my entire career. Be it designers, artists, photographers, writers, musicians, the creative process is a powerful force to be reckoned with.
In my experience the most powerful support one can give is helping a highly creative person is to help them create the right structures to feed their process. Most creative people are challenged to stay focused. ideas popping up are alluring and often mire down the individual and hence they are robbed from seeing ideas come to full bloom. Very often they are bored before the idea really has a chance to blossom.
Helping creatives break down ideas into achievable actions and helping them to understand their personal process, is, I believe the most affective way to help them create.
Perhaps they need advisors on some of the protocols of the world, they would be better served by a coach who is there to help them find their way instead of telling them what to do.
Most creatives when told what to do, will generally shut down and retreat creating inaction and hence no results. Creatives are innately free spirits and are best served when this is celebrated.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost
When We Promise to Pray for a Friend, We Should Do It!
Many times when I am compelled to say, I shall pray for you, recently I have been asking. "May we pray, NOW?" It is an incredible thing to do it in the moment...It is fun to share time praying with people for them.
I also use a prayer reminder website, http://www.echoprayer.com/front/welcome.php
it works for me...
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Reversing the Secularization of Eating
Six years ago after loosing over 200 pounds I made a commitment to say grace before every meal I had no matter where I was. I committed to never taking food for granted and always remembering the blessing food is in my life. After doing it with myself for a while I was drawn to ask others to join me as well, eventually it became a practice that others counted on me for.
Saying grace helps me remember the sacredness of the food, the hands that brought it to the table and the connection I have to God because of it.
When I am in public with others, be them friends or acquaintances, I ask if I may say grace. In the 5 years of asking, I have never found a person who said no. Most often the people say thank you for helping them remember to do it.
I am honored and privileged to share grace with others and feel the presence of the divine as we pause with the blessings before us.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Discipline
which structures will
refine and strengthen me
refine and strengthen me
and which will set me free. fh
Personal discipline has brought a sense of pride and accomplishment to my life. Each time I decide to rest into a practice with consistency, I am blessed with results. Quite the miracle huh??
Most of my life I knew little about personal discipline, Meaning disciplines that would benefit me on a personal and spiritual level that is. I knew how to hold onto a job, stick to deadlines, yet a dedication to MY body and spirit eluded me.
I had no idea how to rest into structure, I never thought I could...when I realized I could with a little bit of help, I was then able to see I could even do it on my own. What a concept!
This morning's yoga was in the hallway of a nursing home. As I stood and did a quiet practice, I could feel my body finding it's center. My body was saying thank you for disciplining me. Thank you for believing I am worth the investment. Thank you for the results you have helped me feel. Thank you for tomorrow's practice, I know I can count on you!
Today I am free from the guilt of skipping out on myself and today I stand knowing I am willing to be refined!
Personal discipline has brought a sense of pride and accomplishment to my life. Each time I decide to rest into a practice with consistency, I am blessed with results. Quite the miracle huh??
Most of my life I knew little about personal discipline, Meaning disciplines that would benefit me on a personal and spiritual level that is. I knew how to hold onto a job, stick to deadlines, yet a dedication to MY body and spirit eluded me.
I had no idea how to rest into structure, I never thought I could...when I realized I could with a little bit of help, I was then able to see I could even do it on my own. What a concept!
This morning's yoga was in the hallway of a nursing home. As I stood and did a quiet practice, I could feel my body finding it's center. My body was saying thank you for disciplining me. Thank you for believing I am worth the investment. Thank you for the results you have helped me feel. Thank you for tomorrow's practice, I know I can count on you!
Today I am free from the guilt of skipping out on myself and today I stand knowing I am willing to be refined!
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Prayer Gathering
Do you need Prayer Time? I DO!
As we open our hearts to the Lord, he shall make it anew.
Join us for a 30 minute prayer call. We shall have time to share prayer requests, pray and to sit with God in silence with each other.
Matthew 18
19 Again I say to you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the middle of them.
Call in number: 1-213-289-0500
Password: 498649#
I know that when I pray with others my heart is made full by all the faith that is ignited as hearts come together...why be alone when coming together is blessed by God.
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