‘You need better boundaries’. How many have said this to you? How about a better knowing of yourself first? Often when you go to see a counsellor for the first time, they hand you a sheet of paper with a list of expectations and boundaries. Very few ask the counselee […]
Helping Others
I want to stir you up. Not to stir up anger or trouble. Actually, quite the opposite, but to love and good works. So often I hear in people a tiredness, a lethargy, even a complete deadness to something that sits resident within their souls. Maybe they have been put […]
We all have problems, but we can over-personalise them. But the problem is the problem. Not the person. There is something sneaky about problems in that, over time, starting from being a little child, problems can morph and sneak into your thinking so much so that you see yourself as […]
We have obvious problems, but real problems, the ones that drive us to unwell ness, can only be resolved by deep soul work. What’s going on underneath? We have problems. Every one reading this will have multiple problems. I just got news from a family member that the biopsies came […]
We like to be self-reliant, but at times we need help. We need a rescue plan. I got stuck in the mud a few days ago. I had been driving my small truck in the countryside and decided to do a u-turn. I crossed over the road and on to […]
Being caught in a trap was felt by the poet who wrote ‘The Snares of Death Encompassed Me’, but they had a way out. I was recently watching one of those ‘survival’ reality T.V. shows where people are thrown into the wilderness and they have to survive. The show […]
I need wisdom ointment, but so much ointment contains flies. Wisdom that comes from above, wisdom that is pure and holy. I was visiting a friend the other day, and she noticed I had some eczema on my hand. It had been there a few days and was slightly […]
The cold wind of rejection can bite deep, but we are not alone. God knows rejection and can give us perspective and a new home of acceptance. I don’t think there is such a cold wind as the wind of rejection. I don’t want you in my life. You’re not […]
It felt they needed to be deeply held. Spooned. Quietly and gently known into a place where soul talk would emerge. To spoon Is to make room For the other To quietly be known It doesn’t have to be physical It’s actually quite spiritual Holding the words and tears Hearing […]
This didn’t feel normal AT ALL, but when they offered the words ‘That’s normal and you’re going to be ok’, a flood of reassurance swept into me. After they had told their story, the psychiatrist looked at them and, with quiet compassion, said these words. For what you’ve been through, […]
You’ve been through a storm, and there has been major upheaval. Please, take time to steady the ship and restore direction. It was a wild and unsettled time in my life. It was like my little life boat had run into a big storm and I had held on […]
There will always be storms, but it’s how prepared you are is more the question. Prepare a shelter from the storm for yourself and those to come. There’s a storm coming. I can smell it. It’s a mental health storm, and it’s brewing to be a big one. A […]
Progress and change can seem like ‘two steps forward and three steps back’ but maybe the steps need to be millimetres and with gradual gentle side ways movements we can see movement. It was disappointing when then they said it. In fact, it was surprising. They said it with good […]
It wasnt so much a closed door, it was more a Christmas rejection. There is no place for you here. I watched him as he told me he wasn’t going to his family’s Christmas party. He had felt a lot of rejection from his family and now he couldn’t […]
A crisis hits and the scaffolding around your life seems to shake, but you have a Mental Health Grab Bag, and so you know you can get through this. An emergency hits, or maybe it’s just seeing certain family members. Something gets added to your stress load, and the […]
There is an internal world to every one of us with words that need sharing, but it’s hard to put into words, so we need someone safe to help us. They wanted him to tell them what was going on inside, but it felt more like he was in the […]
Something was wrapped over them. A shroud. But there is a waiting to be found and a rich party to one day be found. There was something draped over them, or at least that was it felt like. A shroud. What’s a shroud? It’s something that envelopes or obscures. […]
We think we can do it all, manage life ourselves, but you simply can’t. You discover you can’t make it on your own. They were told by their closest companion that they should not need others to affirm them. That they should be able to do it themselves. They should […]
I want to know, and because I want to know I will ask empowering questions. Ones that open up the treasure chest of the heart and mind. It felt more like an interrogation than an invitation. Questions poured out. Demanding, angry, harsh questions that sent me into a state of […]
When no one understands you, it can create a deep sense of loneliness. Perhaps there are reasons for the lack of being known. Forgive them anyway. They were carrying something precious. Their inner world. Thoughts, feelings, motivations, desires, pains, and joys. Everything that goes on within their life and sometimes […]