Blog Carnival Against Child Abuse: May

Thanks so much to everyone who submitted posts to this month’s Blog Carnival Against Child Abuse. There are so many amazing posts. I added some of my own as well. Thanks so much to Tracie for allowing me to be the host for my birthday month. It was an honor.

Here is last month’s carnival:

From Tracie

Here is next month’s host’s blog:

Leslie’s Illusions

Most of the submissions could have been put into the topic of self-care. I inserted some of the submissions into the other categories when the main impact of the post fit that category the best, even over-riding the topic of self-care. I hope the carnival has a kind of flow to it. That is what I was aiming for.

There were so many diverse posts for this month. I was really awed by it all. I am really awed by all of you. Good and healing thoughts to us all.

Self-Care:

Lothlórien from Lothlórien submitted these posts:

Our Furry/Feathered Friends and How They Can Help Us

Lothlórien writes Studies show that animals have a positive effect on our health psychologically, emotionally, socially, and physically. She shares in detail the ways that animals and pets can positively effect a survivor’s life. Excellent post!

Friends on the Journey

Lothlórien shares how important friends are in her therapy and healing processes. She explains the three kinds of friends that she needs as she heals and lives her life. It really got me thinking. I hope you read it too and see where you are in your friend journey.

My Personal Advice

Excellent advice from Lothlórien for online interactions for support, friendship, and therapy. I hope everyone reads this.

  

Here is my post on online friendships:

Don’t Give Yourself Away

 

Radical Hope from Shapeshifters submitted this post:

What I Do *Trigger*

Radical Hope shares a radical idea, that her negative thoughts might not be true. Going from there she shares the self-care she does while dealing with negative self-talk. I love this post. Thanks for being so brave to share the up and the down. It is the reality of being a survivor.

 

Here is my first ever post to my blog, sharing my beginning efforts at positive self-talk:

Survivor.

 

Gail from Survivors Healing Way submitted this post:

Taking Care of You: 54 Ways to Nurture and Self-Care

Gail includes some great ideas to get us started. I hope you check it out and add a few items to your own self-care list.

 

In these two posts I write about my own efforts at self-nurturing. What did and do you do? What more would you like to try and do?

Nurturing Myself as a Child

 

Nurturing Myself Now

 

Gail from Survivors Healing Way submitted this post with a video:

5 Steps to Nip Overwhelm In The Bud

Gail writes, What does it mean to feel overwhelmed? In this video I discuss my 5 Steps to Nip Overwhelm In The Bud.

 

Lothlórien from Lothlórien submitted this post:

Depression Assessment Scale

Lothlórien shares her self-care methods, including the watchful eye of her therapist to catch her depression before it becomes severe. Self-care truly doesn’t have to be something we do alone. Thanks so much for sharing this.

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Sword Dance Warrior at May We Dance Upon Their Graves submitted this post:

Goddess Bless Yoga ? Self Care for Survivors with Vaginal Injury

SDW shares, This post is about some successful strategies I found for dealing with ongoing bouts of vaginal/vulva pain and itching resulting from childhood rape.

Sword Dance Warrior’s honesty and courage in sharing her process of growing awareness  and healing through this was incredible. This post is definitely worth reading as well as the others on this topic on her blog. I hope you will all check out her blog and see the healing process in action.  May we all dance on their graves.

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Patricia from Spiritual Journey of a Lightworker submitted these posts:

As A Survivor, I Had To Learn To Take Care of Myself

Patricia commented about her submission:

As the oldest daughter, I knew how to take care of others very well. I did not know how to take care of myself. As a survivor, I learned that I had needs and I could learn how to reparent myself and take care of me.

Patricia writes about the importance of taking care of her body and feeling her feelings. Eloquent. Thanks so much for sharing.

Purpose and Personal Power for Incest Survivors

Patricia’s commented on her post, One of my jobs as an incest survivor is to regain my personal power. My relationship to power was distorted by the perpetrator’s abuse of it. When I am living in my past, I become powerless again.”

Patricia writes about the two important issues of finding your purpose and becoming empowered, such essential components in healing.

Grieving is Normal for an Incest Survivor

Patricia commented: A psychiatrist told me that I wasn’t depressed, that I was grieving the horrendous things that happened to me during my childhood.

Patricia writes about the all-important difference between grief and depression. Thanks so much for articulating what I have long believed.

Normal vs. Healthy

Patricia commented about this post:

Normal is what we know as children and adults living with abuse. Healthy means that I do what is best for me today. Healthy gives me the ability to no longer be abused today. 

I loved this post. Thanks so much Patricia for sharing.

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Here is one of my earliest posts, on learning boundaries:

What About Boundaries?

Here is a post of mine that covers some of my efforts to find balance while a survivor and working on healing:

Finding Balance

In this post I write about starting to discover what brings me bliss, as a path to self-care. What brings you bliss?

 A Bliss List

  

Advocacy & Awareness:

Mother4Justice at Please Avoid the Road to Justice submitted this post:

A Mask of Justice

In this post, Mother4Justice writes eloquently about the need for anonymity online and the unfairness of that, for those abused and their allies. Mother4Justice uses the term alter egos. Alter egos, I like that concept, it works for me, since we are all super heroes. Thanks Mother4Justice.

 

Elle at Being Elle submitted this post:

Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID)

Elle shares what Dissociative Identity Disorder is like for them. When I first read this post I felt so touched, driven, and, inspired that I wrote several of my own. Thanks so much Elle for yous and your blog.

 

Ben at Loving Someone with DID submitted this post:

Loving Someone with DID

I have long lamented the lack of a safe partner’s voice out there in our blogging community. Ben’s post and blog on living with  a partner’s DID system helps fill that gap. This post is incredible and is still my favorite post on his blog. Thanks so much Ben.

 

Ereline from Simply Faith submitted this post:

My Kids

Ereline writes, I think it’s important to remind ourselves of some of the faces of the children we work with. These are just a few of “My Kids.”

Ereline shares about her work and specific stories of mentoring abused or neglected children. The short stories are enough to make you cry, but also enough to bring you hope.

Ereline ends her post with a request that we help the children in our own community. As Ereline writes; There are lots of ways that you can help.  Just pick a place and start.

 

Susan from Kisses from Dolce submitted this post:

Walking on Campus Against Sexual Assault

Susan writes about her participation in the Sexual Assault Awareness Walk on the University of Bridgeport. Included is the speech she gave that day, a wonderful statement of advocacy and awareness.

Like Susan, I too look forward to a day when we no longer have Sexual Assault Awareness Month and Child Abuse Prevention Month, because they are no longer necessary.

 

Healing & Therapy:

Lothlórien from Lothlórien submitted this post:

Survival

In Survival Lothlórien writes about her definition of a survivor. I loved how she shares that a traumatic event is something that happened to us, it is not who we are. This is an all-important distancing technique to assist in finding and taking back who you really are. I loved this post so much. I could go into detail about why, but please read it and see for yourself.

 

Here is my take on what being a survivor means to me:

I Am A Survivor.

Here is my belief about our inner childs:

Divine Child.

 

Art Therapy:

Jenny at Art Constellation submitted this post:

A Choice of Weapon; Hello Red Heart.

The beauty and raw honesty in this post has left me speechless and in tears. So I will just encourage you to let my friend Jenny speak.

 

Rick from Poetry, Dreams and the Body submitted this post:

Not Good Enough

Rick shares an art technique that he finds helpful in healing the aftermath of child abuse.

 

Here is my link to my resource page on Art Therapy/Creative Healing project suggestions:

Art Therapy & Creative Healing Projects

 

Poetry:

Meg from Muddy Fingers Meg submitted this poem:

Time

Meg’s post and poem are brave, heart-rending, soul shatteringly beautiful. It covers the topics of abuse, blame, and control.

I loved this post and poem. It really hit me hard and deeply. Meg, since you wrote that you haven’t written a poem in some time previous to this poem, I sincerely hope that you can try to do it more often. You have a gift.

 

Susan from Kisses from Dolce submitted this poem:

My Heart Sang

Susan’s poem is a reflection on the sadness and loss caused by child abuse and how it affected her choices and chances in one moment of time in her life. As Susan writes, I missed my dance.

I was so touched by your poem Susan. Thank you for sharing. 

 

Kath from Kathleen Freeman submitted this post with five poems:

Poems by Kathleen Freeman

Thanks so much Kath for your submission. Good and healing thoughts to you.

 

Rick from Poetry, Dreams and the Body submitted this post:

resting

I loved reading this poem. Beautiful in it’s simplicity. Thanks so much Rick, for this late submission. I’m so glad that I was able to get it and add it, it fits in with the theme so incredibly well.

 

Survivor Stories:

Patricia at Spiritual Journey of a Lightworker submitted this post:

Dr. Phil Show on “Forgiving the Unforgivable”

Patricia shares about this post:

A story about 2 sisters who confront their mother on Dr. Phil. The show is about a mother who chose her pedophile husband over her 2 daughters. Warning: this post may be triggering for some.

This was a difficult post for me to read, but an important one. Thanks Patricia.