Group

Sharing – The Way We Show Up

ByMikeM Reading Time: 1 minute

Claire Louge, the Executive Director of Prevent Child Abuse Arizona, shares a personal story with an important reminder:

“The way we show up can even help shape a person’s whole world view. If we respond with compassion, we just might help someone feel a bit safer not just in the moment, but in the way that they carry themselves in world. Because maybe if people are willing to inconvenience themselves to make sure you’re okay, maybe this world isn’t always so scary. It can sometimes even be unexpectedly meaningful.”

How we show up for other people matters. We can provide a place of safety in which they can heal and flourish. Too often, we don’t, though. We don’t know what to do, so we don’t show up. We don’t understand the importance of showing up, even if it’s not perfect, just to let people know they are not alone in difficult situations. Everything is more challenging when you go through it alone, so show up for your people.

https://pcaaz.org/the-way-we-show-up/

Similar Posts

  • Sharing – Can I Just Tell You: With So Much To Mourn, We Must Allow Time To Grieve

    ByMikeM Reading Time: 2 minutes

    One of the things I learned in 2019, and saw repeated over and over again in 2020-21, was that there are a lot of people who are so uncomfortable with the idea of death, that they become almost unbearable to be around when you are grieving yourself. They are so uncomfortable with grief, that they really, really need you to get over your grief so that they don’t have to feel uncomfortable anymore.

    It’s a weakness. One that cuts people off from their own emotions, whether it be hurt, pain, anger or grief. It hurts people, all in the name of someone else’s comfort.

    We see it when people complain about child abuse public service announcements, put in the “required” time at a funeral, avoid people they know dealing with mental health issues, and so on. And it’s not going to change, until it’s them or someone they care enough about to make an effort to get past their own discomfort.

    Or, maybe it won’t change. Maybe they’ll continue to isolate themselves from anyone who is hurting. That’s a choice, one any of us is free to make.

    Or we can choose to allow people to hurt, and grieve, and simply be with them. Simply care more about that other person than our own discomfort.

  • Sharing – How To Make Someone Truly Feel Heard

    ByMikeM Reading Time: 2 minutes

    Jeremy does a great job describing the skills necessary to do this. It’s well worth your time to read. Personally, the area I see people struggle with the most is the inability to sit in silence, which then leads to feeling like they need to say “something”, and that can often wind up not reserving judgment.

  • Do You Deal with Alexithymia

    ByMikeM Reading Time: 2 minutes

    Frankly, this does sound like a common struggle for childhood abuse survivors. It also sounds a lot like some of the symptoms of being neurodivergent. So, I guess the question is, does a history of childhood maltreatment equal an increase in the likelihood of being neurodivergent? Or does this personality trait simply have a lot in common with other types of neurodivergent traits yet is caused by surviving early trauma?

  • Links I’m Sharing (weekly)

    ByMikeM Reading Time: 1 minute

    Getting Back to Work When You’ve Been Depressed Mental Health Advocates and Trolls Mental Health Awareness Means Talking About All Types of Mental Illness 15 Benefits of Healing Your Childhood Emotional Neglect How to Talk to Your Child About Suicide Matt Haig: teach children about mental health as readily as road safety Posted from Diigo….

  • Sharing – Your pandemic blues have a name: adjustment disorder

    ByMikeM Reading Time: 1 minute

    This sounds really familiar… Countless people are wondering if the discomfort they’re experiencing is “normal” or if others are in the same boat. Not only is the feeling normal given the circumstances. It has a name: adjustment disorder. Clinically speaking, adjustment disorder is a stress response syndrome people experience in light of an identifiable life…

  • Link – I speak out about my sexual abuse because others still suffer in silence

    ByMikeM Reading Time: 1 minute

    “So now I speak. Bravely, bluntly, honestly. However you want to look at it, I speak. I’m a sexual abuse survivor and I did exactly that – I survived. Even now as I write this, I’m aware that future employers and my father’s family can see my words but I refuse to bow down to…

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

To respond on your own website, enter the URL of your response which should contain a link to this post's permalink URL. Your response will then appear (possibly after moderation) on this page. Want to update or remove your response? Update or delete your post and re-enter your post's URL again. (Find out more about Webmentions.)