July Blog Carnival Against Child Abuse

I wanted to start out the Blog Carnival Against Child Abuse with some quotes I posted to go along with the theme this month; what works. Part of being a survivor of childhood abuse is feeling like you don’t fit in and having to make alterations to your life and yourself while healing, figuring out what works for you and what doesn’t. Living the life of a survivor of abuse is a great experiment, a way to heal and to find yourself, to find your happiness, and your self-love and self-esteem.

Survivor lives, survivor blogs, and our healing work are all proof of our resilience, courage, and bravery. Our participating with one another by sharing our stories and our lives is one way that we can all be buoyed up, supported, helped, encouraged, and allow us all to find suggestions, ideas, and healing tools as we each walk our own healing paths. To me that is the definition of community and when we gather together, like in the Blog Carnival or when two or more survivors are interacting, we are in communion with one another.

Quotes

Healing Quotes 309 & 310

The world is what you make of it, friend.  If it doesn’t fit, you make alterations.

~ Stella, played by Linda Hunt, in the movie Silverado.

Life is the great experiment. Each of us is an experiment of one– observer and subject– making choices, living with them, recording the effects.

~ George Sheehan.

Healing Quotes 312

A hammer is a good tool, but not useful for removing screws.

~ Brother Wolf from the book Fair Game by Patricia Briggs.

Healing Quotes 314

The shoe that fits one person pinches another; there is no recipe for living that suits all cases.

~ Carl Jung

What Works

Tracie, of From Tracie, submitted this post:

What Works: Stepping Back

Tracie’s excellent post is on the topic of stepping back from something to take a short break when being  overwhelmed. When I start to feel overwhelmed with stress and anxiety, I have learned to stop and ask myself: What is overwhelming me? What is contributing to my stress?… Stepping back isn’t mean, or rude, or irresponsible, or selfish, or any other negative word. Stepping back can be healthy. It gives you a chance to regain clarity, and return strengthened.

Great post Tracie. It really bolstered me up. I hope you can all stop by and read it.

Megs, at MuddyFingersMeg, submitted this post:

What Works

First I want to say that I love Megs’ blog and I hope everyone checks it out and reads her post. This post is so powerful. I don’t want to talk about it, so that I don’t do a bad imitation of stating what she is saying, but I hope everyone will read her post. So beautiful Megs. I love you as a writer, as a blogger, and as a person. Thank you for sharing.

My post at Kate is Rising is:

Breathe

My post sharing how finally I have found a healing and healthy way to use breath that is calming and empowering.

My post at Kate is Rising is called:

Being

My post on how being calm and assertive has been healing and transformative for me in my life and on my healing path.

My post at Kate is Rising is:

Sleep Deprivation.

This post discusses the stone Pyrite and how it has helped me when I am dealing with lack of sleep.

My post at Kate is Rising is:

Finding Your Happiness

This post discusses survivors’ finding happiness: I have noticed that happiness is something that survivors who are more healed seek out. I think that all survivors, no matter where they are in their life or healing, should explore their life and work on finding their own happiness.

Survivor Stories

Lindy, from a post at Living Visible– Learning to Live After Abuse & Trauma, submitted this post:

Painful Pick-Up

Lindy wrote: Clutter can be a roadblock when it keeps growing. This is just one day in the life of a Survivor story. Most people don’t understand how hard it is to tackle an overwhelming situation. What seems to be laziness or stubbornness, can be a resulting from a deeper source for abuse survivors. I share a real life story about cleaning clutter. Some of my friends that have known me for years were shocked by how difficult it can be to tackle messy spots, clutter or deep cleaning. I hope this helps another that can relate to this challenge.

Lindy shares about a clutter cleaning day that she went through. Clutter is often an issue that survivors must cope with and address, accompanied with heavy doses of guilt and shame. Thanks so much Lindy for sharing this brave post. I can definitely relate.

Poetry

Rick Belden, at rickbelden.com,  submitted a post of a joint project Rick did with visual artist Staci Poirier:

Virus

Rick wrote describing this project: This is a joint art-and-poetry submission of my poem “virus” paired with artist Staci Poirer’s painting of the poem. The post at GMP (The Good Men Project) includes an additional page of zoomed-in images showing the details of Staci’s painting.

Rick’s poem in combination with Staci’s mixed media painting is a wonderful collaboration of art and healing. Thanks so much for submitting this Rick.

Kathleen Freeman at Legacy for a Two Year Old submitted this poem:

This Man (Survivor)

Kathleen wrote this is a poem inspired by the brave men recovering and speaking out about childhood abuse.

This is a beautiful, heartfelt poem. I was so touched when I read it, very healing. Thanks so much Kathleen for your submission.

Any later submissions through this weekend will be added, consider submitting here: Submission Form.

Thanks so much to everyone who submitted posts and to all who read them. Please take a moment for yourself to consider what works for you and what doesn’t. Good and healing thoughts to you all.