Stillness

We sometimes take for granted the beauty that is stillness. I recently saw a meme that said we were all forced to be alone with our thoughts, Said F that and learned how to make bread. Now, I know about 2 dozen people myself and sister included that started making bread.

It made me think about the emotions and feelings we were trying to cover up. Was there fear of the uncertainty, sadness for the loss of milestones deemed important, stress caused by being home either alone or with children, anxiety about leaving your home; all of these feeling were going through my mind. Plus, each time I went out for a grocery store run everyone else had a scared, wild look in their eyes. I didn’t want to face this right away.

While, it is good to keep your mind busy and learning new things we do need to take time for the stillness. That time and space of stillness allows you an area to come to terms with your emotions. Find a creative outlet (this blog), paint, garden, draw, read, journal, crotchet, bake but if we run from our feeling for too long they become packed up into luggage that we won’t be able to carry.

We are members of the Wounded Warrior Project and they recently sent out an email that included a Sesame Street resource for kids. We recently started using it with all 3 boys. It has helped us have conversations with our boys about their feelings. These conversations are also helping us deal with our own emotions. We are not by any means perfect parents. We are learning how to deal with our own emotions and finding healthy outlets for them. But in the process we want to help our boys learn at a younger age how to handle strong feelings.

The point is, it is ok to be still. We don’t have to be afraid of facing those emotions. Finding someone to help you is sometimes a great idea. Many therapists, like Daniel Bair, LMFT, are offering virtual sessions. I hope that today you take a few minutes to sit in stillness. Embrace that time alone with your thoughts and feelings.