RockWall Cottage Chronicles #12
A newsy, sometimes amusing, usually interesting fly-on-the-RockWall view of my life as an author with updates from my Substack adventures.
The small cottage where I live and write has been affectionally named RockWall Cottage because of the rock wall that divides our side of the property from the side of the property where our friends, the owners of the cottage, live. (Learn More)
What Has Been Happening at RockWall Cottage?
Fall has arrived—though there are few signs of it at the cottage. Days are getting shorter, nights are getting cooler, but the flowers are still blooming! It is difficult to get in the mood for Fall when the days are sunny and it still feels like Spring!
We are sad to say that it was necessary to re-home our two roosters. They were in a day-long crowing competition with each other and there was no peace and quiet in the neighborhood. We wish you well Elvis and Hugo (who we thought was a Margo). Rule #1 of raising chickens is don’t get too attached! Thank you both for the joy of watching you grow up and learn to crow.
News, Highlights from Previous Weeks, What’s Coming, and Other Stuff
It’s Finally Here! This week’s four-part series launches a weekly We Do Therapy series. Free subscribers will receive a preview, the entire post will be available to paid subscribers. (I will gladly offer a free one-month access for those who would like to access this series but are unable to commit to a paid subscription at this time. Don’t hesitate to ask.)
Paid subscribers! Watch for emails about several Conversation opportunities!Scott and I will share both the struggles and triumphs of two young adults who believed they had found someone who would care for them. Our intent is not to offer marriage advice. We are not licensed therapists. We are survivors who hope that what we share about our journey together will help others to be curious about how trauma might be impacting their marriage. Hopefully, far sooner than we did!
Please Note! Scott and I do not believe that every marriage can or should be salvaged, especially when the interactions are abusive. Both partners must be willing to do the deeply vulnerable work of healing. The emphasis of We Do Therapy is how we both worked to heal individually and then heal the ways that trauma had impacted our marriage. We do not believe this would have happened without professional trauma-based therapy.
Thank you to the readers and friends who have communicated with me in response to the vulnerable sharing of my story this past week. I always know that when I am this vulnerable, my story will help others heal. One of the reasons that I published Brave is explained in the excerpt included below. This past week felt much the same and I have such peace about sharing more of my story. For me, a true sign of healing is when I can’t remember why I was so afraid to share. Done.
If you missed it, here are the links:
From Brave: Healing Childhood Trauma
“The question was: Could there be meaning to my life outside of stepping onboard the book express? Absolutely, but once on board, there was no stopping the train. I could run to the front of the train and decide where it should go—maybe, but no emergency brake existed. There was no saying, “Oh, that wasn’t a good idea; I should get off now.”
So I had to be sure. It was important to look inside my soul to see if there was any other choice. On the days when a choice was evident, it wasn’t really very appealing. It involved hiding and hoping someone didn’t tell my story without my permission. It involved fear and living in the cage of my former self. It involved watching others live in their pain and never giving them the hope for healing that I had to offer. It involved hearing discussions about mental health and never adding to the conversation. It involved allowing ignorance to have a voice but silencing my own.
Well, when put that way, it wasn’t really a choice, was it? It seemed there was not really much of value I would lose by getting on board—but there was so much potential loss by standing on the platform for the remainder of my life.” Brave