From Tracie

Sunday, July 31, 2011

Too Much Stuff for the Labyrinth

Last night we watched the movie, Labyrinth.

Who doesn't spend their Saturday nights watching a movie starring David Bowie and directed by Jim Henson?

What? You don't do that?

That is a loss.

Anyway. The movie.

Sarah (Jennifer Connelly) is a teenager who gives her baby brother to the Goblin King (David Bowie). She has thirteen hours to make it to the middle of the labyrinth, to his castle, or he will turn her little brother into a goblin and keep him forever.

At one point in the movie, she eats a magic peach that makes her forget what she is doing, and a junk lady leads her to a replica of her bedroom. The junk lady is picking up things (stuffed animals, figurines, books, etc) and handing them to her, until she is sitting under a pile of her stuff. Sarah starts to remember where she is, and why. The junk lady hands her more things and tells her to stay in her room, because her stuff is important.

The big pile of stuff is distracting her from remembering why she is in the labyrinth.

It made me think of all the stuff in my life. Is it holding me back?
Is it distracting me from life?
Are there times I would be free to go out and do something different, or do something more - but I'm held back by my stuff?

I'm not sure I'm very happy with the answer that my heart gave me.



This is my Sunday five minute stream of consciousness. 
More five minute posts can be found at All Things Fadra.



Have you ever seen this movie?
Do you think there has been a time when your stuff might have held you back? 

Friday, July 29, 2011

Blog Against Child Abuse - July 2011 Edition

Welcome to the July 2011 Edition of the Blog Carnival Against Child Abuse!

There are a lot of great submissions this month, and some first time contributors. I hope that you will leave them comments, and will be blessed as you read through the posts.

Healing and Therapy:
-Sarah123 from Writing submitted, Writing: The Voice of the Heart
Sarah shares how the destructive words spoken to her in her childhood played a part in her life, and are hard to overcome. She now strives to speak empowering words that build people up instead of tearing them down.

-Meg from MuddyFingersMeg submitted, Acceptance
Meg shares how the quote "Acceptance asks only that you embrace what's true" helped her to understand the process of accepting what happened to her in her childhood, something she has been working on in therapy.

-Patricia Singleton from Spiritual Journey of a Lightworker submitted, Healing From Abuse Means Doing the Work of Healing
She wrote: "If you want to heal, you need to move beyond the blaming stage of healing. Just telling your story isn't enough. The responsibility for your child abuse lies with your abuser. the responsibility for what you do with your adult life belongs with you."
I was especially touched by this line on triggers, "Triggers don't happen to make you blow up all over someone else".

-Mike McBride from Child Abuse Survivor submitted, Survivor - Know Thyself
Mike shares that one of the biggest things you can do to help yourself in your healing is to know yourself, and what works for you.

-MarjakaThriver from Survivors Can Thrive submitted, Going Through the Memories
She wrote: "For this month's carnival, I'm submitting a post about connecting to the feelings that were dissociated and shut off during my abuse as a child. I have found that feeling the feelings has been painful, yet key to my healing and recovery."

Art Therapy:
-Lynn C. Tolson from Beyond the Tears: A True Survivors Story submitted, Finding Our Voices
Lynn shares about her experience in a process painting workshop.


 Advocacy and Awareness:
-Subhash Chand from Embrace Your Love submitted, What Can Be Your Contribution to Stop Child Abuse
Subhash wrote: "Any crime or neglect against a child which involves mental, physical, or moral torture falls under the term child abuse. Incidences of abuse against children are rising, but it can be prevented if caution and awareness is spread."


Aftermath:
-Meg from MuddyFingersMeg submitted, Carrying the Sadness
Meg shares how the stress and pain in her childhood manifested itself in her body and health.

-Clinically Clueless submitted, Effects of Childhood Sexual Abuse in three parts:
Effects of Childhood Sexual Abuse
Effects of Childhood Sexual Abuse Part 2
More Truth Spoken

-Tammy Taylor from Here We Go submitted, Keeper of the Secrets
Tammy shares how she was a secret keeper in her family, often keeping secrets to keep the peace.


Poetry:
-Rick Belden from Poetry, Dreams, and The Body submitted, Poetry on Video: "Secret Children"

-Kath Lambie from Kathleen Freeman submitted, Legacy for a Two Year Old - Poem 3, "3 am"

-ProzacBlogger from Journal of a Male Child Abuse Survivor submitted, I Wish I Didn't Exist: A Day in the Life of Prozacblogger


Survivor Stories:
-The Drama Mama from My Write Side submitted, Monster No More
She said: "This was written in response to a Red Dress Club prompt."

-Froilan from No Bystanders submitted, Facing My Demons

-Tammy Taylor from Here We Go submitted, Drawing in Black and Blue

-Mike from ImAFoster.com submitted, Time to Escape the Abuse
He said: "I'm a former foster. This is my journey before, during, and after the foster care system. I learned a lot of things through my journey of aging out of the system."

-Patricia Singleton from Spiritual Journey of a Lightworker submtited, Guest Post at Sexual Assault Survivors Standing UP
She said: "This is my first memory of being sexually abused by my uncle when I was 11 years old. This needs a trigger warning with it, read with caution." 
Along with sharing her story, Patricia also shares some important things that parents can do and teach their children to protect them from abusers. 

-Patricia Singleton from Spiritual Journey of a Lightworker submitted, Guest Blogger Jane Rowan and The river of Forgetting
She said: "A written interview of author Jane Rowan, whose book The River of Forgetting tells of Jane's healing work with fragmented memories and body sensory memories. A story of courage and pain as Jane learns to work with her inner children to remember early sexual abuse by her father and the cover up of that abuse by her mother."

*********
The Blog Carnival Against Child Abuse is a monthly event. The purpose is to raise awareness about the serious issue of child abuse and to share important posts with others who may not be frequent readers of an author's blog, and expose one's work to a wider audience. There are so many wonderful bloggers who are contributing to the cause of ending and recovering from child abuse. If you, as a reader or author, know of other blogs that you find helpful, please encourage them to submit to an upcoming issue of the Carnival Against Child Abuse; and please bookmark that page so we can continue to receive high quality submissions from a wide swath of bloggers.

Many thanks to all of you who shared your hearts and stories with us, and to all of you who read the submissions and show your support. You keep this carnival, the awareness, support, and healing going each month.


To provide another way for you to stay in contact with the blog carnival, and make sure you don't miss any updates; you can like the Blog Carnival Against Child Abuse Facebook Page



Thank you for raising your voice and speaking out against child abuse! 

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Do I Look Like A Celebrity?

Recently there were a lot of bloggers putting up posts with pictures of their celebrity look-alikes. I did not participate, because I wasn't sure that I looked like anyone other than myself.

Last night, Lori Dyan followed me on twitter, and when I was snooping around her blog (you  know, checking to make sure she wasn't a serial killer or anything.......um, Lori, you aren't a serial killer, right?) I found a post where she used this snazzy facial recognition stuff, and I had to try it out.

Celebrities Who Look Like Tracie
I'm not really sure that I actually look like any of those women, but if someone wants to compare me to Olivia de Havilland, I'm certainly not going to complain. 

It was so much fun, I had to try it with Katarina's picture, too...
Celebrities Who Look Like Katarina
Notice how Katarina also looks like Katie Holmes. Clearly we are related. I mean, Katarina and I are related to each other - I'm pretty sure we aren't related to Katie Holmes. 

I couldn't leave Thomas out, so I put in his picture...(I do not know why the picture of Thomas looks blurry, it wasn't that way when I uploaded it onto their site. Maybe they think he is only comparable to blurry celebrities)
Celebrities Who Look Like Thomas
Thomas mostly looks like people I have never heard of. I looked up Mark Feehily and Carl Nielsen, and found out they are musicians, which is kind of fun, because Thomas is musical. I'm thinking their musical gifting has something to do with the shape of their noses. This theory totally explains my lack of a record deal. I'm blaming my nose. 

There was a darker side to this picture comparison. Something that I did not anticipate.
Britney Spears looks like Katarina
Britney Spears looks like Thomas


We are a whole family of Spears look-alikes!

I'm not sure how I should feel about that. 



I'm really not sure how I feel about looking like Jamie Lynn Spears, when Thomas and Katarina look like Britney. I think I might need to shave my head and start attacking cars with umbrellas to up my Spears Family standing. Or maybe get a nose job, because musical talent is clearly related to nose shape.  
Jamie Lynn Spears looks like Tracie

What do you think? Which one of my celebrity look-alikes looks most like me? 

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Happiness is a Yellow Leaf of Joy

I was writing in my journal, when Katarina brought me this leaf. She knows I have a love of yellow, (and the joy it brings) and she often brings me a little yellow gift with a big smile and hug. Her sweet heart makes me happy.

Yellow Leaf

Something else making me happy today, 
I am being featured at The Mom Pledge Blog
Stop by and check out the anti-cyber-bullying pledge. 

What is making you happy today?

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Lost At Sea

Sometimes I feel as though I were adrift on the sea. floating. lost.

I look around me, not recognizing my surroundings, although they are the same things I have seen for the past three years. never changing.

Sometimes I wish I was floating. lost. on a violet sea.

I long to hear the gentle lapping of the water. the sound of a fiercely blowing wind. to watch the storm clouds roll over.

I want the storms around me to match the storm within.

Sometimes I can feel the thunder. it crashes so loud inside my heart.

I long to look up to the break in the clouds. to see the sun shine through. clear and bright.

I long to believe that the sun will break through the clouds within, and shine light where the darkness thrives.

Lost is not always bad. the violet sea is beautiful. the rescue boat approaches.