I work in a trauma-rich environment. That's the actual phrase they use to describe my workplace. My work is not specifically "trauma-rich"--I'm the Business Manager. I handle Human Resources and budgeting and accounts payable and such. So it's not my job per se that is trauma-rich. It's the place where I work.
We provide services for children who have been sexually abused.
And here's the thing. Nationally, over 90% of children are sexually abused by someone they know, love, or trust. In my county, in the nearly 10 years I've tracked these stats, it's closer to 99%. Think on that for a minute. Ninety-nine percent of children are sexually abused by someone they know. Someone they trust. Someone they love. It might be a family member or a family friend, but it isn't a stranger hiding behind a bush to nab them. It's someone their parents have let into their lives. Or it's the parent him or herself.
That's trauma-rich for you.
Because of the nature of our workplace, and the space our therapists and interviewers and family advocate and intake coordinator hold for our children to tell their stories, we've been talking about self care. Self care really looks different for everyone . . . and most of us are better at declaring what it's not. At a recent staff meeting, we talked about how proper self care is built on a foundation of entering in. It's a foundation of feeling what there is to feel and then handling it appropriately (i.e. not drinking too much, swearing, yelling at everyone around you, or eating. I know, right?).
Entering in.
Experiencing the feelings.
Not numbing them.
Because numbing them means you aren't feeling them. And the drinking, swearing, yelling, eating, and escaping is all about numbing.
Well, great. Now what? Entering in feels very, very scary. And very painful. And the opposite of what I really want to do.
So I eat too much, or I yell, or I swear. And then I feel a bit better for a while. And then I go back to work or I have to "Mom" again or I somehow start to feel . . . and then I eat too much, or I yell, or I swear. And then the whole cycle starts over again.
And none of that is real or right or healthy or even all that helpful.
But there's a bigger problem. And the bigger problem is that when you numb what hurts you also numb what heals. Because numbing isn't self selective. You can't numb the bad without numbing the good. You can't escape the pain without also escaping the pleasure. At least that's what this TEDTalk lady said. She says humanity is about allowing yourself to be vulnerable. It's about entering in and sitting in the hurt and being honest about it. And she says it's impossible to connect without that.
As I sat there in our staff meeting and thinking about what she said (and how much I really wished someone had brought doughnuts to that staff meeting), I realized something. In the past I've written about my sensory processing disorder, and I've talked often about my own journey through postpartum depression and the meds and therapy that got me through that. What I maybe haven't mentioned is that for over a year I also took an antidepressant prescribed by my doctor simply because my sensory issues don't really lend themselves to having children and momming. Nice, right? So I dutifully took those pills, and I could make it through my days with work and kids and school and schedules.
And I made it through. And I didn't cry so much. And then I realized I didn't cry at all. And I didn't really laugh that much either. And I didn't really have a desire to write anymore or even the words to write. And I panicked when I realized I couldn't even really daydream. So I quit taking them. In my head I said, "Well, most writers are crazy. I'd rather have that crazy if it means I can create." But the truth was that I just wanted to cry again. I wanted to feel.
{Now I'm in no way advocating that everyone should get off their medication for depression or anxiety. I'm not even positive it was the right decision for me--and I definitely gained about 20 pounds, so one could argue I'm just doing a different kind of medicating--but it is something I needed to do. I needed to feel. BUT if you can't make it through your day and you can't enter in because you can't get out of bed, then you need to take something. If you can't enter in because all you can think about is hurting yourself or total escape, then you need to take something. If you can't enter in because you can't quiet your mind down enough to focus and breathe, then you need to take something. Please keep taking your something, but do it under a doctor's care and with a therapist who can help you safely enter in. And don't take yourself off your something without your doctor and your partner or close friends. Please.}
Our pastor is currently preaching through a series on The Lord's Prayer. A couple of weeks ago his message was on "Give us this day our daily bread." Our daily bread. What we need for today. He read Exodus 16 to us and preached about that manna. That "what is it?" That literal daily bread. Just enough for the one day.
I have so, so much. And I still want more. But He gave me Enough. Because that's who He is.
Enough.
Not more than I need. Not less than I need. Enough.
During the message, our pastor asked, "What do you complain about the most? What do you ask God for? A life of ease? A life of plenty? Or for your daily needs to be met?"
That really hit me.
Do I complain about not having enough? Do I complain about disappointment? Do I complain about discomfort? Or do I ask for my daily bread? Do I ask for justice? Do I ask for God's will? Do I simply ask for more God?
Do I ask for Ease?
Or do I ask for Enough?
When I ask for enough rather than ease or escape then I find that I had enough to begin with. That God, in His wisdom and knowing-all about my life, has already given me everything I need to enter in and rest in His enough.
Oh, it won't be easy. And I'll have to stop overeating or self medicating in whatever way is right in front of me. There will be pain, because that's what it means to be human. There will be vulnerability, and there will be times when it is so awful I want to stop. But when I enter in I will find that I have everything I need to make it through that day.
And I will laugh.
And I will cry.
And I will write.
And I will live.
(And hopefully I'll lose those 20 pounds.)
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