We Plan in Our Minds But Live in Our Feelings
“It is almost as if we are all playing a big game of hide-and-go-seek. We all hide expecting to be found, but no one has been labelled the seeker. We stand behind the wall, at first excited, then worried, then bored, then anxious, then angry. We hide and hide. After a while, the game is not fun anymore. Where is my seeker? Where is the person who is supposed to come find me here in my protected shell and cut me open? Where is that one who will make me trust him, make me comfortable, make me feel whole? Some people rot on the spot, waiting for the seeker that never comes. The most important truth that I can relate to you, if you are hiding and waiting, is that the seeker is you and the world, behind so many walls, awaits.” Vironika Tugaleva
We plan in our minds but we live in our feelings. We stop growing emotionally at the same age we begin our addiction life. So in recovery we start at that emotional age when we enter recovery. The healing principle is that as we believe we will get better, we will get better. But choices have to be made. You can’t hold on to misery with one hand and reach for happiness with the other. As the trapeze artist lets go of one bar before she grasps the next one, so also must we give up misery for happiness.
Lifelines are the individual tools we use to learn about ourselves and others. These include hobbies revisited or new; books that help guide us to new understandings; social media channels; etc. Everyone who is interested in recovery has unlimited resources available. Groups, organizations, support, articles, posts, links, email, etc. We will be listing many sources. Our joyful, playful child lives in our creativity. Awakening our creativity gives life fun and purpose.
Personal growth is like the grass, as Walt Whitman wrote in his poem about war, “I am the grass, I cover all”. When I was at Guantanamo Bay, from my office I looked down on the air field below me that was unused and covered in wild grasses. And I understood that as a living creature, I was either living or I was dying. Grass doesn’t get to a certain height and then stop growing. As Bob Dylan sang, “ he not busy being born is busy dying”.
From “How to Restart Stalled Creativity the Easy Way”:
“So, how in the heck can you restart creativity? It might be easier than you think. The simple answer is to restart creativity; one needs to do creative activities. Without getting into how the brain functions, it just makes sense. It is like making a muscle stronger by exercising it. Ever wonder why creative people tend to hang around other creative people? Creativity is a cycle enhanced through association with a creative environment. Okay, enough of the background. Here is a list that is not guaranteed to restart or improve creativity but could make a difference. If you think you are having a problem with creative endeavors (which we can label as a missing muse.), try one or more of these. You can make up your own as well.
1 Get some colored pencils and a coloring book and use them.
2 Get a number two pencil, paper, and mirror and try to do a self-portrait.
3 Write a new song. Not the music, just the lyrics. It can be to any tune you want.
4 Write a short story outside your regular genre. Who cares if it is good or not?
5 Use your cellphone to make a video that you also narrate.
6 Get some fruit together and draw it
7 Get some supplies and paint a fruit still life from your drawing
8 Buy an airplane, car, or craft kit and put it together
9 Watch a mindless action movie and take notes.
10 Tackle that painting project in one of the rooms
11 Plant some seeds
12 If you live in the North, shovel some snow. But pay attention to how you do it.
13 Get a copy of one of Gary Larsen’s Far Side books and read it.
14 Bake some cookies or a cake and then frost them
15 Put together a playlist of creative songs and play it.”
I do #15 all the time. I have saved playlists in You Tube music and as I just joined Amazon Music yesterday, I copied some of choices from YouTube to Amazon. I have playlists at several music sites and love to see the changes from year to year. I love to organize. Perfect reason to be a content curator.
A Medium publication is an online magazine. I have 4 on which I am transferring all my work.
Addiction Recovery Has Many Paths. Don’t be Afraid to Try Several of Them.
