Inspiration on a Tuesday - Redeemed.

Redeemed. I looked up the meaning, and redeemed means “to restore the honor, worth, or reputation of.”
Also, it means “to recover ownership of by paying a specified sum.” Not, to own by paying a specific sum, to RE-own by paying a specified sum. It’s reclaiming something that is already yours by paying for it again.

The word “redeemed” has been bogarted by Christianity in some sense, but haven’t we all been redeemed?

post script on sexual abuse

**As I was writing my blog yesterday, I discovered that I wrote this but never posted it, following my sexual abuse post. I wanted to post it now. Consider it a late P.S. 
Sometimes I think I'm "over" the things in my past, I spend months in a place of homeostasis. Then something happens, and suddenly I'm having vivid nightmares again. Please know, if this is your story, too, that you're not alone. After writing the post on Sexual Abuse and PTSD, I almost gave up my blog. I didn't write or post for months. It was the hardest thing I've ever written, and it still knocks the air out of me sometimes. But, as my friend, Cyn, says, "You are talking and you are ok." If this is your story, please don't stop talking. We share more than you know.**

The thing that happens with sexual abuse is, like a surgeon, it skillfully and exactly severs the tie between your soul and your body. It then strangles your soul until all you are left with is a shell of who you were, walking around empty. It doesn't leave you alone, though... when it steals your soul and life, it leaves you with companions - post traumatic stress, fear, self-hatred, isolation, loneliness, guilt, and shame. So you walk through life with companions you never asked for. With dreams you never wished upon. With feelings you question. You learn to never trust yourself, and certainly to never trust anyone else.

own [your] story - a story from a reader

I received an email from a reader who’s sister shared my “Shame – its what’s for dinner” blog with her. She is a Christian and wanted to share her perspective on shame, grace, and learning to let go. Brene Brown (I know, I’ve been preaching the gospel of Brene Brown a lot for the past few days) talks about “owning your story” and how when you tell your story to a non-judgmental audience, shame can’t disable your spirit.

Shame – it’s what’s for dinner (at my house, anyway)

As some of you know, I’ve recently discovered Dr. Brene Brown (aka the Albert Einstien of the 21st century). She has a Ph.D. in Social Work and has spent her life studying shame, vulnerability, fear… basically all the things that get in the way of happiness, joy, and abundant life.

I’ve spent the past few weeks listening to her talks and reading her books and, well, dealing with my own shame. I’ve been, as Dr. Brown says, “wading in the swampland of the soul,” ...

shame (sssshhhhhh! we don't talk about that)

What IF...
...we lived our lives with authenticity? What if we weren't afraid to face those forces that motivate us? What if we looked at Shame in the face and defied its hold on our lives?

What if we simply acknowledged shame exists?

Shame is something everyone has. It is the most primitive human emotion. It is that voice that tells us we aren't good enough (pretty enough, smart enough, thin enough), so we try to be everything to everyone, we try to be perfect wives, perfect mothers, perfectly balanced inside and out.