Searching for Sacred

My six-year-old daughter is teaching me a lot these days (and giving me gray hair!)   If you asked her if she were loved, she is likely to tell you “No.   I have a terrible life and people are mean to me.   I do not like being me.”   She may also include that I am mean to her and not her siblings because I do not allow her to have her way and sometimes she has to wait for others to do some activity.   If you were to watch her interact at school, or really anywhere other than home, you would see a smart, kind, creative, happy little girl.   The thoughts she carries deep in her brain are so incongruent with the life she lives. The therapist in me sees warning signs for a future of depression and anxiety.   The mom in me is heartbroken that she truly has a difficulty seeing herself as loved.   If she were not my child, I would wonder what type of home environment was feeding these thoughts.   We are not a perfect family.   I a...

It is a new year.    Like most people, I made up my resolutions and goals for the year.   Unlike previous years, I have them posted on the refrigerator as a constant reminder staring at me.   And to not get so overwhelmed, I have my weekly goals taped next to my bathroom sink – small goals working toward the larger goals.   Backing up these goals is my word of the year, “BALANCE.”   This is my year of balance.   I have a history of making goals that are so extreme that I cannot possibly achieve them, or if I could achieve them it comes at a sacrifice for other more worthy efforts.    Behind balance is another word, fulfillment.    This has been a rough Indiana weather week.   Snow, subzero temps leading to being cooped up in the house for a few days.   I have not worked in nearly three weeks and my kids have yet to return to school (today is the magic day back!)   I spent the last week doing NOTHING.   ...