It's interesting to note that the heroin deaths and overall uptrend began with the introduction of digital heroin, with the iPhone coming out in 2010 with a front-facing camera (selfies), combined with the like button from Facebook. This combination created an epidemic of child, teen, and young adult mental illness, in my opinion.
I love your writing. So insightful, intelligent. Gabor Maté , a Canadian physician experienced with treating those with addictions and The Myth of Normal aligns very much with your essay. I was inspired to write Dissconnected here in my Substack based on this book.
I love his approach of “Compassionate enquiry”. It’s essential to understand our story and the wounds that have shaped us to become who we are today. We can then recognise what role they play in our lives and choose to let them go and write a new story. But until we do it will continue to be the same loop over and over. Wishing you a beautiful Sunday, Ann!
Love, I have learned, is a verb and only very rarely a noun. One poet wrote about love’s lonely and austere offices. Love does things even it costs the giver everything.
Karen Blixen’s story, Babette’s Feast, is as close to a complete definition of love as one can find. The lover gives everything and the beloved isn’t required to give anything.
Thank you for taking the time to write this Jen. Until we take the time to go on this journey of self-discovery and understand our wounds, we will always move around the world feeling broken in some way. We build coping mechanisms to navigate the world in a way that minimises pain and improves our chances of receiving love and attention. However these behaviours formed unconsciously during childhood and we carry them into adult life presenting ourselves to the world as a collection of coping mechanisms instead of who we really are. Once we begin to strip back the layers we can live a more authentic, connected, and fulfilled life. Wishing everyone a wonderful week filled with love, joy, ease and peace 🙏🏽✌🏽
I am thankful that science discovered the somatic connections with mental illness and physical pain. After years of therapy I just started working with a somatic therapist.
Thanks Jen! As always, this was a good read and thought-provoking. But in all honesty, I was kind of just cruising along until I hit this sentence.
“People who love their bodies do not abuse their bodies.”
It’s not that that is a completely new concept to me. I have been on a journey of love and acceptance of myself for many years now. And I’ve come to a place that I indeed do love my body. But somehow this time it broke through with much deeper understanding!
I for many years have embraced and believe in taking good care of my body by what I eat, rest, etc. My life as an inn keeper of two inns and operating a small restaurant with my wife is often intense and requires long hours. Somehow I saw today has never before and it’s not just doing stuff to try to keep my body healthy, but it needs to be done as an act of love. At least with as much care as I would take express love to another I love!
This is a powerful picture for me that I believe will bring transformation in my life. Thank you. !
I just published an essay ruminating on how to not hurt people when you are hurting. amazing how I was directed to your page from a restacked note!
that miracle move-on drug line stands out to me all the time. the effects are temporary when we don't have the real compassion for ourselves to do the healing work that is lasting.
I loved this post. I especially resonated with what self-compassion is not and what real self-compassion is. You are so spot-on. It is definitely hard and extremely challenging to be with your suffering, but I agree it is the first step in healing. So many of us distract ourselves or try to pretend it is not there or that we can "get over it" or "move on" right over it. As I have many times found out in my life, that just doesn't work. Thank you for all the time you put into sharing your thoughts and insights. They are always thought-provoking and helpful. Hey........why don't you run for president? We can use someone with a good head on their shoulders and excellent emotional intelligence.
It's interesting to note that the heroin deaths and overall uptrend began with the introduction of digital heroin, with the iPhone coming out in 2010 with a front-facing camera (selfies), combined with the like button from Facebook. This combination created an epidemic of child, teen, and young adult mental illness, in my opinion.
Thanks so much Ahmet. I wrote an article on this related topic:
https://romanshapoval.substack.com/p/techmyth
I love your writing. So insightful, intelligent. Gabor Maté , a Canadian physician experienced with treating those with addictions and The Myth of Normal aligns very much with your essay. I was inspired to write Dissconnected here in my Substack based on this book.
I love his approach of “Compassionate enquiry”. It’s essential to understand our story and the wounds that have shaped us to become who we are today. We can then recognise what role they play in our lives and choose to let them go and write a new story. But until we do it will continue to be the same loop over and over. Wishing you a beautiful Sunday, Ann!
Insightful, engaging and educational. What’s more it landed in front of me with perfect timing. What a great account of self-compassion.
Yes! Me too. I love that about life and serendipity
Jen, "Perhaps love is the answer." reminds me of a poem I read from Hafiz this week:
“We are
people who need to love, Because
Love is the soul’s life,
Love is simply creation’s greatest joy.”
—Hafiz, The Stairway of Existence
Keep up the great work!
Love, I have learned, is a verb and only very rarely a noun. One poet wrote about love’s lonely and austere offices. Love does things even it costs the giver everything.
Karen Blixen’s story, Babette’s Feast, is as close to a complete definition of love as one can find. The lover gives everything and the beloved isn’t required to give anything.
Love is the answer.
Wonderful, and precisely on point.
Love is the only way.
This is a great post, Jen! I loved every word. Thank you for sharing.
Hugs,
CJ
Thank you for taking the time to write this Jen. Until we take the time to go on this journey of self-discovery and understand our wounds, we will always move around the world feeling broken in some way. We build coping mechanisms to navigate the world in a way that minimises pain and improves our chances of receiving love and attention. However these behaviours formed unconsciously during childhood and we carry them into adult life presenting ourselves to the world as a collection of coping mechanisms instead of who we really are. Once we begin to strip back the layers we can live a more authentic, connected, and fulfilled life. Wishing everyone a wonderful week filled with love, joy, ease and peace 🙏🏽✌🏽
One thing that helps me makes sense of my emotions is to write it out. I wrote about one aspect of my journey with shame and abuse here: https://open.substack.com/pub/soulwisdom/p/sexual-abuse-my-story?r=a9uns&utm_medium=ios
Thank you. I will indeed. And you as well. I am in Nova Scotia , Canada and it is a rainy one.
It is raining here today in London, UK. Although most of the week it’s been sunny!
Some sentences hit so hard, thank you.
And I do think you’ve found an answer: love. It is all there is.
I am thankful that science discovered the somatic connections with mental illness and physical pain. After years of therapy I just started working with a somatic therapist.
Thanks Jen! As always, this was a good read and thought-provoking. But in all honesty, I was kind of just cruising along until I hit this sentence.
“People who love their bodies do not abuse their bodies.”
It’s not that that is a completely new concept to me. I have been on a journey of love and acceptance of myself for many years now. And I’ve come to a place that I indeed do love my body. But somehow this time it broke through with much deeper understanding!
I for many years have embraced and believe in taking good care of my body by what I eat, rest, etc. My life as an inn keeper of two inns and operating a small restaurant with my wife is often intense and requires long hours. Somehow I saw today has never before and it’s not just doing stuff to try to keep my body healthy, but it needs to be done as an act of love. At least with as much care as I would take express love to another I love!
This is a powerful picture for me that I believe will bring transformation in my life. Thank you. !
I just published an essay ruminating on how to not hurt people when you are hurting. amazing how I was directed to your page from a restacked note!
that miracle move-on drug line stands out to me all the time. the effects are temporary when we don't have the real compassion for ourselves to do the healing work that is lasting.
I loved this post. I especially resonated with what self-compassion is not and what real self-compassion is. You are so spot-on. It is definitely hard and extremely challenging to be with your suffering, but I agree it is the first step in healing. So many of us distract ourselves or try to pretend it is not there or that we can "get over it" or "move on" right over it. As I have many times found out in my life, that just doesn't work. Thank you for all the time you put into sharing your thoughts and insights. They are always thought-provoking and helpful. Hey........why don't you run for president? We can use someone with a good head on their shoulders and excellent emotional intelligence.
Beautiful, touching insightful piece. Thank you very much for this 🙏