What if I told you that talking to an empty chair was one of the most freeing and healing experiences I had during my three years in counseling? You're probably thinking something to the effect of "what in the world? She talked to an empty chair?" Yep, I sure did! It was my senior year at IWU. I was working with my therapist to find healing from a fragmented relationship in my life. My therapist pointed to an empty chair and said "Pretend that they are sitting in that chair. What would you say to them?" I thought this was simply a rhetorical question to get me thinking, but no. My therapist actually wanted me to talk out loud to an empty chair. I was hesitant at first, and doubted that this exercise would be beneficial, but I played along. I turned toward the empty chair and began to talk to "them." I shared my hurt, my need to let go of the past and desire to move forward. I asked for forgiveness for the way I treated them. And I forgave them f...
For years, this blog was titled "Thoughts from a Stranger." The title stemmed from a core belief that everything was temporary — this world, my body, this life. I used this belief as a lifeline when the things around me felt overwhelmingly cruel. It was easier to digest all the pain in the world when I believed "this isn't home." It brought me comfort that we were simply strangers passing through what felt like a God-forsaken world. That there was something, somewhere better to come. This blog's URL is the same as when I first created it in 2010: this-isnt-home. It was my theology summed up in three little words. I'm keeping it. It's a reminder of where I've been — of who I've been. I've always looked at life through a lens of questioning and curiosity. I remember asking my mom when I was younger, "Do you think all truth is in the Bible?" I honestly don't even remember how she answered that question, but I think it caught ...
I struggle with loneliness. Some days I sit in my bed and begin to cry because I have convinced myself that I am completely alone. You have no friends. No one understands what you are feeling right now. You've just got to suck it up and deal with it. You're too much. You're not enough. These are just a few of the thoughts that I play on repeat during those bad days. I'm not telling you this for sympathy, but rather because I am confident that I am not the only one who has this struggle. It's been 2.5 years since I graduated from college, and the transition into the "real world" is still really hard for me. When I moved back to Fort Wayne I had this unrealistic expectation that things would just pick up where I left them. I was so wrong. My friends have changed, moved away to different cities and states, gotten married. I am in a familiar place, surrounded by familiar people, but I still feel alone. Tonight at youth group, I forced myself to...
Comments
Post a Comment