So…for dinner tonight we had our traditional Irish meal of freshly baked Irish soda bread, Corned beef with cabbage and potatoes and cherry cheesecake (because the one of the young leprechauns asked for it).
We aren’t Irish at all (I don’t think) but the preschool teacher inside of me will always enjoy these themed days.
Also, I should correct this to say “for dinner, I prepared” rather than “for dinner we had”.
We are a family of differing dietary preferences. Stella enjoyed Irish soda bread with vegan chicken nuggets and cabbage (and made her own butterbeer floats for dessert). John had beef with potatoes and cheese on top, and of course bread…and I enjoyed a nibble of each. He will probably have no problem finishing the cheesecake by himself…Stella won’t eat things containing gelatin (did you know it is made of animal bone marrow?) and it’s not on my diet…but it was fun to make.
I almost did not make this meal; the days of green eggs and ham are over and I know all about everyone’s individual needs. Also, everytime we are around a holiday that was once celebrated as a family tradition (before divorce days), it’s a challenge for me to still celebrate. It’s all about making a new normal, letting go of the old and building the new. It’s hard work.
This season feels like it’s one of transition, and I must constantly tell myself to just hang in there. Typing that out doesn’t even seem accurate. Life, it’s all about transition and change but these days, it just feels very in my face. I’m facing some old demons and really being given the opportunity to see who and what I am. Simultaneously, there are new adventures and a bundle of fun. I wonder if this is how my teenagers so often feel.
At the end of this month, my current work position will end and a new one will begin in April. That seems like a good flow. April is my favorite month, a time of new beginnings symbolically in now, in reality too. My internship is getting busier and I really can’t believe that I will soon be a ‘real’ therapist. It kind of freaks me out and I just pray that I continue to trust I’m equipped for this and step all the way into my gifts. This part…it’s not about me. It’s about so much more. I can’t even express right now how grateful I am to be at this part of the journey. My kiddos…I am catching on. They really love each other but love looks different with teen siblings!
While this is all commencing, I am working on being the best me I can be. I have a plethora of negative cognitions that I am trying to understand and reframe. Why? Because what once served to protect and serve me is now a futile energy force. An example…
Recently, one of my dear sisters commented on how my body was so much smaller. I immediately ‘phhhh’ed’ her and let her know I hated how slow my progress was. She asked how much weight I had lost. I told her I didn’t know bc I was choosing to stay away from the scale, because it had way too much power over me. (I keep intending to take measurements but haven’t done that yet.) You know, “I’ve looked at many before after photos of people who had lost weight and worked out…their scale said the same number but their bodies were completely different.” She got exactly what I was saying….I don’t know if it’s a girl thing or a sister thing or whatever, but it’s nice to be ‘gotten’.
I didn’t (at that point) have a clue what my weight was. I hadn’t weighed on a scale in six weeks. What I did know…my jeans fall off of me without a belt; I’ve worked out every day for nearly 3 weeks; my energy is steady throughout the day and my skin looks good (except for a few breakouts). That should’ve been sufficient, yes?
Nope.
I got right on that scale as soon as I got home from my sister’s house. Guess what? The flipping number is .07 more than it was the last time I weighed. Guess what else? This number sent my brain into tailspin mode. You see, it’s not just a number on the scale to me. It’s a loud voice screaming inside my head that I will never be ‘hot’, it doesn’t matter, I should continue to seek out men who aren’t best for me because girls like me settle, etc, etc. Ugly fucking thoughts that erased every positive thing I have noticed in the moments (hours) I spent going down that path.
It has taken me two days to begin to get into a better mode of thinking about myself. There is so much negativity tied in a bundle for me around body image. I am so thankful that I have strong legs, a healthy heart, a never ending ability to think and learn and so much more. I hate that I get wrapped up in superficial shit, but I’m human, and I do.
It was not until Stella (my 14 year old daughter) was in the bedroom and she overheard me talking to myself in the mirror. I don’t know my exact words but I know they were defeating and probably included the use of F-A-T. She zipped into my closet and stood there with her hand on her hip; “Mom! What do you think you are teaching me is important right now?” There was no squirming away from the discomfort of her question.
How can I tell my children how very important self-love is and at the same time, demonstrate self-hatred at any level? I can’t, and it sucks. Either I say what I mean and mean what I say or I don’t.
I’ve got work to do. It’s part of the transition. Maybe transformation is a better word. I don’t want to carry negativity forward.
Digging deep and learning what all of this is really about matters. There is certainly a part of me that feels more comfortable holding on to my image of a very pure, very good girl, and that girl is always wearing a mask. Part of her mask is a cushy body. There is another part of me that is very much enjoying my femininity, my sexuality and womanhood. For some reason, I have it set up in my mind that she must look very different than me. “She” must be in supreme shape in order to be worthy of those things.
I am trying to consolidate (still) that I can be very pure hearted, very good hearted, very God loving AND very authentic, womanly, sexy AND enjoy every minute of who she is.
I dream of a love story that I’ve yet to experience…it’s the one where I love myself deeply so that I can love others better. People say loving me is easy…I am trying to find that truth for myself.
SUNKISSED SOUL 