My dear one,
I declared 2016 to be my year of Vulnerability and Transformation. This means many things for me personally, but for you and me, it means I will be writing to you. Little letters sprinkled here and there as an offering to you and a reminder that we are all in this together. Hopefully this will soften the edges of the utter aloneness that you feel when restrained by an eating disorder. I am invested inYour Fully Recovered Self.
My hope is to provide you with a Sanctuary, a sacred space that helps you connect with your wisest, most intuitive self. I promise you that there is a very healthy, strong and vibrant part of you begging to be released from the grips of the eating disorder. You may only hear the faint whispers of this part of you, tucked away in the folds of your heart, but if you begin to tap into those whispers, even for five minutes every day, the volume will begin to go up. Once that part of you is fully cranked up, we all better get out of the way!
As a therapist, this is the most rewarding part of my job to see my clients shed the weighty cloak of their eating disorder and fly freely, unencumbered by the limits they once defined themselves by. No more rules. No more demands. No more punishment. I too, have to get out of their way when this begins to shift. And I’m glad to do it, because I get the amazing honor of observing them IGNITING THEIR LIFE. If you too want your life ignited, I’m on board for that mission, but here’s the deal, it requires you to abandon your eating disorder, not all at once, but a little at a time.
Many members of my Tribe are Recovered. They are powerful, independent, beautiful creatures. Part of the agreement when having such a Tribe is that you constantly balance staying close with them and getting the hell out of their way. These people are Changing the World. Literally!! My recovered tribe is full of individual therapists who have dedicated their careers to the pursuit of helping others recover, authors, speakers, creators of a transitional living home for clients pre/post hospitalization, and activists dedicated to the prevention of eating disorders for our youth. Then I have a tribe of recovered Soul Sisters, some of whom I’ve never met. Some members of this tribe include the astonishingly-courageous and brilliant Carolyn Costin and Beth Hartman McGilley. These earthly angels helped pave the way and offered those of us in the field permission to share that we are recovered. We can stand solidly in our truth that we are RECOVERED, in addition to our degrees, our research, and our decades of practice. No need to hide in shame, my darling one.
You will need your tribe too! I will write to you soon about what a tribe in recovery encompasses. This will be a critical ingredient in your Recovery Recipe.
For now, tap into the whispers! Let your whispers write you a letter of how they long to be heard. This letter comes with a sincere invitation that you consider how 2016 could be your year ofVulnerability and Transformation. Send me your letters, my heart is open to your whispers, but more importantly, I hope yours is as well!!
Love + Light,
Angie
