We’ve heard it said over and over: these are unprecedented times. With unprecedented times comes uncertainty, and with uncertainty often comes anxiety. If you are experiencing something similar right now, you are not alone, and there are ways to manage this fear and anxiety.
Keeping Kardia
I'm no etymologist, but words fascinate me. Kardia, in many of its uses, has captivated my attention for a long time. As a Bible student, kardia appears multiple times as the Greek word for heart.
Not the organ that pumps blood through your body. Kardia is the figurative core of your being. It is the seat and center of human life, emotion, volitional will. It is the "causative source of one's psychological life in its various aspects." All that to say, your heart is a huge deal and deserves attention and care!
What Does It Mean to Dream?
We are created to dream big. The moment we dream, we open ourselves up to feeling, desiring, aching, grieving, suffering, and celebrating. To dream means to be fully alive in a beautiful and tragic world. It means that we are willing to reach outside of ourselves, fully aware that we may not grasp what we long for. Part of the therapy process involves unearthing dreams that have been lost to trauma, addiction, depression, and anxiety. However, when we face the story of our life and begin to heal, we can risk dreaming again.
Celebrations
We have all seen the movie where the protagonist is a totally self-absorbed character—praised and rewarded by the adoring public for some remarkable talent or gift that has lost its meaning to him (think Tony Stark from Ironman). He or she has cabinets and closets full of awards, and the next one is simply tossed aside like an old candy wrapper. On the outside they have it all, but on the inside they’re thinking, “Is that all there is? I’ve gotten all the praise, wealth, and power that I have always sought and I still feel empty.”