Being one of those people who bend and shift, I can get along with almost anyone. Different environments bring out different sides of me. That’s always been the case. However, without filters, the changes are dramatic. Some environments are educationally stimulating to the point that they bring out the genius in me. Others are so loving they bring out the unconditional love in me. Naturally, some environments don’t work. Recognizing those early before they do harm is the key to my well-being.
Shifting and Bending for every environment makes early detection difficult. To shift and bend means I trust what people say. That is often a mistake as most never say what they mean unless they want to inflict pain on others.
I am naive in my ways of handling deception. It’s challenging to understand motives. Indecisiveness and lack of time awareness add layers of complexity that make my head spin. Bending and shifting is adventurous. I see and do exciting things. To seemingly belong, I contort into odd positions that are uncomfortable and unsustainable.
Lately, I haven’t wanted to bend and shift or contort. I am happy to be me regardless of what others think. Feeling comfortable in my skin is a new freedom. Could I be healing?
Dear Angela, I read this posting from you that has “TBI” in its title and “healing” in its text It reminds me of another recent posting that addressed TBI. I of course know no specifics about your own TBI and literally nothing about TBI in a knowledge or experiential sense, but what I’m going to write below happened — by coincidence? — on the very evening of that prior posting, and I’ve meant ever since to share it with you for whatever (or no) benefit it might bring you.
A retired minister friend’s brother lives in their native Pennsylvania. The brother has become a devotee of “earthing” and has gotten my friend into it. (Along the way, I mentioned this concept to my 52 yo elder daughter who is into yoga, something called Ayuveda (sp?), etc., and she was aware of it as “grounding,” so it might be known to folks into that sort of thing….) The idea, if I can try to explain what I caught of it from my friend, is that the earth’s “electrical” (is that the same as “magnetic”?) core can be used to great physical-emotional benefit by the human body via simply, e.g., taking off one’s shoes and walking around barefoot in the grass of one’s back yard. My friend seems to be finding some “benefits” (physical? emotional?) from it in only a month or so, and, in tandem with the walking around, he even (whether or not at the encouragement of his brother I don’t know) has taken to sitting on a chair barefoot in his back yard, sprinkling water in the area under his feet, and staying there as long as he feels comfortable in doing so, allowing the earth’s natural electrical impulses to course up and through his body. (The idea of the water is evidently that water is a good conductor of electricity….) Anyway, my friend advised me that there is a book — “Earthing” — 2d Edition ~2012, with three co-authors that might be educational and useful. I’ve forgotten any details of my thought/action process, but I googled and came up with this url — https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7971518-earthing . So: I’ve gotten this off my chest and offer it to you for pursuit or not….cheers! (I do care, as a fellow human, about anyone who has issues with his/her brain or other body parts and needs/wants to take some proactive, benign action toward “healing”!)
Bob, thank you for caring. There is so little of that on public display. Recently, I started doing yoga, Beginner. I want to feel comfortable with basic poses. I grew up walking around barefoot. Always have but now I live in an apartment. I walk barefoot on the balcony. Not sure if that counts.
Angela, you seem to be taking a right “step” via your barefoot walks on your balcony! But the little I intuit from my friend would seem to pull in the direction of actual contact with grass (i.e., the “earth” inclusive of the soil, electrical emanations, etc., that rise from it, even maybe the bugs that are down there wriggling away!). Perhaps a park near you with a nice grassy expanse for leisurely/contemplative strolling and (optional) a fold-up chair on which to sit as you sprinkle water underneath? At any rate, I’m going to remember to ask my friend for a status report the next time we chat…and I don’t want to belabor my reach-out to you here…. Have a marvelous, meaningful day!
(That daughter of mine is into yoga big time! She and a few friends are conceptualizing a non-profit organization to attract others into serious attention to that and allied aspects of “wellness.” She asked me the other day to review and suggest edits to a one-sentence “mission statement” for use in whatever form the organization evolves into. Here’s what I sent back to her: “We strive to assist our community — our family, our “village” — in strengthening the development of committed humans’ spiritual, mental-emotional and physical well-being by way of education and mentorship in several aspects of nutrition, healing techniques and movements, avoidance measures, harmonizing with our ecosphere, and Ayurveda practices.”)
Hi Bob. Will try. I like the mission statement. Mine are usually short and easy to remember.
I’m glad that you’ve felt like you’ve been healing. While I never had TBI, I could actually relate to some of the things you’ve mentioned here. There were times where I was too trusting of others and would be deceived or taken advantage of. There were also times where certain environments did bring out any semblance of genius in me or at least with certain topics where I felt intelligent discussing different things with others.
Shifting and bending with TBI as a patient is the double-edged sword eternal. I find myself repeating that just because I CAN do something it doesn’t mean I SHOULD. It’s unnerving what is forced upon those in most urgent need of cognitive rest considering the science. http://www.pinkconcussions.com taught me to stop expecting myself to heal how everyone else demanded it.
It took a while, and I learned to accept and love the new me. I no longer shift and bend. I’ve also learned to not engage with people who don’t accept me as I am. Thanks for the link, I’ll take a look at it.