Lisa Thorpe

SAY – SEEK – SOLVE/SOOTHE

Last week I blogged about feeling lost and isolated. SAY – before moving from my sadness and stuck-ness I had to say it, I had to name it. In truth I didn’t want to put my unhappiness out there because I didn’t want to make my husband feel bad. You see we moved to Little Rock AR for his job, and he loves his job, and he is happier than I have seen him in some time. So, I didn’t want him to feel like I wasn’t supportive of the change or that I blamed him for my melancholy. But in not SAYing my piece I really wasn’t moving, and I was taking it out on him in subtle and not so subtle ways. So, Step 1: SAY out loud what was real for me in that moment. This is a tricky one for my husband and I, because sometimes I just want to say how I feel, and his response is often to suggest solutions. It comes from a place of love, he’s a doer, he doesn’t want me to be unhappy so thus – find a solution. He’s not wrong but sometimes I just want to sit with the SAY part for a bit. It’s true, however, to unstick from the SAY on must move on to SEEK. Step 2: SEEK, seek help, seek comfort, seek input, seek solace. So here is where The SAY and the SEEK steps blended. I received so much response and kindness to last weeks blog post from you dear readers out there, that I was truly buoyed. My little boat was lifted from the depths of the wave to the crown, and I could see the shore, the horizon. Many of you reached out via the blog comment- sharing your experience and wisdom, others reached out through phone calls and gifts. Still others sent me names and numbers of people to connect with here in Little Rock. It seems to me that SAY is what was needed to begin to SEEK. If you don’t name it, you can’t know it. Now the last word in my art journal is a bit muddled both by design and in truth because I have overlaid the words SOLVE and SOOTHE. I wrested with these two words and my intention for them. Because sometimes problems or realities can’t really be solved. Loss is loss – it can’t be solved, not really. It can be re-framed, renamed, it can be soothed. Thus Step 3: to SOOTHE my loneliness by seeking solace in my art journal and my blog was a way to SOLVE. It helped to unclench the tight fist holding fast my lungs, I took a cleansing breathe to move forward and think outward thoughts and look beyond my loss to the possibilities before me.

So again, thank you, and you and you…. I am blessed and loved – I just needed you to remind me.