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anitaParticipantWhat goes up ⬆️ 🤪 must come down ⬇️ 😴
What goes in 😋 must go out 🤢 (or the other way).
The laws of physics and physiology.
Confused 😕 can’t change these laws.
For a while you had more 🏹 ⬆️⬆️⬆️⬆️⬆️ than ⬇️⬇️ (pre Nov)- but it was not a solid 🪨 type high.
🐰 Anita
anitaParticipantWell, 31 minutes ago
anitaParticipantHey 🙂 Confused:
I feel positively appreciative of her
for her values and her kindness.. even when you “feel nothing again” (exactly 30 minutes ago)Well, I think well of her and had a good feeling a moment ago, appreciating her.
My point is there’s a connection between thoughts and feelings, and thoughts come and go (although deep impressions last) and feelings are like ocean 🌊 not at all solid.
Somehow, somewhere along the way you Confused 💧 with 🪨 ( that’s a rock)
💧 🪨 🌊 🐰 Anita
anitaParticipantIs she religious (praying, you said)? Can you tell me a bit more about what you felt or still feel about her praying and lighting a candle for your deceased mother?
anitaParticipantThank you for explaining (your post in this thread, right above). So, you watch certain programs or read things because people urged you to do so, and you kept reading or watching even though the material felt unhealthy or inappropriate?
If I understood correctly, then I can relate. Not to this specific thing but to anything and everything that involves saying “no” and setting boundaries.
I bet there are online exercises in regard to teaching setting boundaries and other assertive. There’re probably YouTubes on it. Some may be helpful. Did you ever look into that?
But guess who is not recommending that you read or watch anything (even if I had something in mind for you to read or watch)?
Me 🙂
anitaParticipantHey Confused the Poet:
I wish you could accept how you feel: what you feel and what you don’t feel at any moment in time.
The distress is of no good use, nothing positives comes out of it.
I think I mentioned to you the concept of Radical Acceptance. That was part of my CBT- radical acceptance e exercises. I bet you can find those online.
🌿🌿🐰🌿🌿Anita
anitaParticipantHi Starlight:
I wanted to clarify something from my earlier reply. I used the word “selfish” about your mother, and I realized afterward that this wasn’t the best way to say what I meant. It’s not my place to label your mother as a whole person. What I should have said is that some of the things she did were self‑serving and placed her needs above your wellbeing. That part is true, but it’s different from naming her entirely.
I also want to acknowledge something else. When I wrote about the deer, I was drawing from my own history with my mother, and I can see now that I let my experience blend into yours (projection). That wasn’t fair to you. Your story is your own, and it deserves to be heard without my trauma coloring it.
What you shared about being made to support her art school plans, and seeing her stay with someone who harmed you, are painful experiences in their own right. They don’t need any added intensity from my side. I want to go back to listen to your reality as you see it, in your timing, without pushing you toward any conclusion.
I wrote to you on the other thread that I’m here to walk alongside you, but in the above reply, I unintentionally (or without awareness) walked ahead of you. I apologize.
🤍 Anita
anitaParticipantHey Starlight1 🌟
I just replied to your new thread. I will read your post above (and any post you may add) when I return from a walk with my 🐕 Bogart the Beagle and attend his play date with the neighbors’ beagles Kooper and Kurby. And then continue to clear the huge blackberries in the yard.
🐕 🐶 🐕 🌿 🌿 Anita
anitaParticipantHi Starlight1 ⭐️
Sounds like “Selfish” (her interest AT your expense) was your mother’s middle name and the church goer religious affiliation 😞
I am sorry, Starlight, that this happened to you.
In this context, forgiving would mean saying that it is okay to take advantage of one’s own daughter/ fellow church goer, is it?
That you ended your original post with the thought that your mother would be pleased with having mostly blocked your creativity says a lot about how much it hurts that she did.
.. When a mother is so far from what a mother should be.
I remember observing 🦌 mothers and their fawns years ago (I live in a wooded area outside the city limits) and I realized that although mother-deer don’t go out of their way to protect their young (they don’t, I was disappointed!), they never turn around and bite or attack their offsprings, or actively harm them.
Unlike too many human mothers.
🦌 😞 Anita
anitaParticipantYou’re always welcome, and no: you’re not at all offloading too much, really! I’ll answer then in your third thread later on (taking a break)
anitaParticipantYou are very welcome, Starlight. You probably didn’t read the message I submitted 6 minutes before yours (the one before the most recent) in regard to answering your 3rd thread. No rush, whenever you answer is fine.
I didn’t understand your most recent post. If you’d like to elaborate, please do (no rush, after your rest. Actually, I need rest myself).
🤍 Anita
anitaParticipantStill morning, Starlight ✨
I was wondering if I should reply to your 3rd thread here for 2 reasons: (1) to not spread or our 1 to 1 communication over too many threads, and (2) other responders (sadly I’m the only one responding for quite some time) may not want to intrude on our 1-to-1 conversation. If I leave your 3rd (and maybe 4th, etc.) thread unanswered, maybe someone else will answer it.
What do you think, Starlight? I would like to respond to your 3rd thread here or there, whatever you choose. Just let me know 🙂
anitaParticipantGood morning again🙂, Starlight:
What you wrote about sometimes not knowing where your limits are — that’s such a common outcome of early boundary violations. It’s not unique to just me and you.
I’m sorry you’re in so much shoulder pain right now. Physical pain on top of emotional work can make everything more difficult. And what you said about being weary of the recovery journey makes complete sense. Healing isn’t a straight line, and it isn’t always inspiring. Sometimes it’s just tiring.
About forgiveness — you don’t owe it to anyone. Not forgiving certain people is a completely valid place to be. It doesn’t make you stuck; it means you’re telling the truth about what happened and what it cost you. You get to move at your own pace, and you get to decide what forgiveness even means for you, if anything.
Thank you also for your kindness toward me. I appreciate you acknowledging what I shared, and your reminder to rest. I’m taking care of myself, and I want you to know that you don’t have to protect me from your story. You’re not a burden. You’re simply speaking from your life, and I’m listening with a steady mind and a quiet heart 🤍
If you want to keep exploring limits, or if you need to slow down because of the pain and the weariness, either direction is completely fine. You get to set the pace.
🤍 Anita
anitaParticipantGood morning again, Starlight 🌟
Thank you for sharing all of this so clearly. I can hear how much you’ve been carrying, and how long you’ve been trying to make sense of it on your own.
What you wrote about your mother — the apologies without real change, the hurt about her choice to remain with the person who harmed you, her impact on your life — all of that makes complete sense. You don’t have to go into anything you don’t want to. I’m hearing the experience without needing the details.
About what you said regarding “breaking contact”- it ended up being necessary in my situation. You get to decide what is right for you, in your timing, with your own clarity.
You wrote in regard to your mother, “it cost me so much staying in contact”- I very much relate. It cost me my mental health, a huge price. I had to stay small, engulfed, unimportant, sacrificed, a non-entity.
What you said about health professionals resonates with so many trauma survivors. Internal conversations, replaying events, talking out loud when processing — these are all very common trauma responses. It’s painful that instead of explaining the mechanism to you, they pathologized it and medicated you.
Being told you were “delusional” for naming abuse is a deep injury in itself. I’m glad you’re thinking clearly now and that your mind feels quiet as you write. That clarity belongs to you; it’s not something anyone gave you.
Nothing in your message sounds like you were asking for advice — it sounds like you were thinking out loud, and I’m simply walking alongside you as you do.
🤍 Anita
anitaParticipantHi Starlight 🌟 ✨️ ⭐️
About limits: mine, growing up, were crossed so severely and so early that I was clueless 🙈 for the longest time about what my limits were or should be.
In our communication, please exercise your right to set limits and be assertive 💪
🙂 Anita
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