Look back and be grateful you had the strength, the will, and the desire to keep on going and overcome shit. Slap yourself on the back for making it through. Life is literally a bitch sometimes, and the fact that you can make it through… kudos to YOU!
Look forward and understand that sometimes life is just about throwing roadblocks in your path, but you’ll deal with it as it gets here… and sometimes life will throw some sweetness your way. Enjoy it while it lasts. YOU just make the best of either situation.
Look around and appreciate the good in this world. Let it enhance the obvious unpleasantness that reality sometimes brings; it will be more palatable. YOUR perception and acceptance of how things are and choosing to see and strive for better will help you overcome the negativity that life can send your way.
Look within and find the BEST you have inside to put forward every day! Share yourself with the world to help influence others to do the same. YOU are in command of your ONE life; steer it wisely.
And, of course, the next (and last) email I received was an attempt at gaslighting. Me the problem? I’m a nice person, and I just want to get to know you. blah, blah, blah. Needless to say, I’ve blocked him.
I Write Her <iwriteherblog@gmail.com>
3:39 PM (10 minutes ago)
to This stranger*
I’ve tried politely to steer you to communicate on my blog. My last response was a simple NO, but you still don’t want to listen.
Ok, let me try one last time…
I don’t want to communicate with you privately. I prefer to get to know people, especially strangers, through my blog. Hitting up on a woman out of the blue is creepy and annoying. So, stop emailing me. I don’t know you; if you persist, I will block you.
Am I clear now?
And if that still didn’t get through, read this piece…
On Tue, Jul 16, 2024, 1:56 PM This stranger wrote:
Sound good, I hope you don’t mind if we continue our conversation on Google chat you can also install a very easy app nice to meet you where are you from?
I’ve been to Spain! Lovely country. That’s incredible that you went from Australia to Spain, another interesting country that I hope to see someday. Appreciate the invite to get to know one another, but I tend to do that online, through my blogs. Feel free to get to know me on I Write Her. :)
On Tue, Jul 16, 2024 at 12:28 PM This stranger* wrote:
You’re welcome hope you don’t mind if we get to know each other I’m from Spain born and raised in Australia my free time I go to the beach maybe at the park walk with my cat since I am not in the country i have to go alone, what do you like and dislike, what do you do on your free time?
New subscriber! This stranger* just subscribed to I Write Her. They will receive an email every time you publish a post.You might want to go see what they’re up to! Perhaps you will like their bogus blog* as much as they liked yours.
If you haven’t read it yet, the link above will take you there. I will tell you it’s close to 850 pages long, so you’ll have to hunker down. Maybe the best time to read about a shitty time in history is in the bathroom.
Also, 20 years to the day, our democracy faced a similar dispute about who won the election. Obviously, it went down a different path. Following a legal challenge, George W. Bush was certified as the winner of the 2000 election.
I was touched to have Annabel reach out to me to read her poetry books – Journey into the Dark and the Light & Journey into the Shadow and the Sunshine. Having never done a book review on my blog, it was an honor to do this for a fellow poet. Plus, getting out of my day-to-day routine to try something new is good for me. I felt up to it with my current schedule, and more importantly, enthusiastic in providing one for her.
The titles and prefaces of both books immediately set the tone; you know you are going on an emotional journey with Anna as she recounts and confronts the darkness in her childhood. While the subject matter is a difficult topic, her superb writing continually has you standing with her, however painful it might have been to deal with. The honesty reflected endears you to her with each piece, then championing her success in the latter chapters of each book. The first part recounts the aftermath of the abuse, while the second part speaks to recovery and hope. All of humanity can identify with tragic circumstances and having hope; that is life! In her words and art, these books reinforce the idea that we can all overcome our adversities. It may take some time, but clarity does come if we face it.
After finishing the first book and immediately devouring the second, it was plain to see that they are both about courage. Whether subconsciously through the artwork Anna immersed herself in or how she expressed her feelings, it was courage that enabled her to bring her past to the forefront. It pushed her to confront all the trauma endured during her most innocent of times. In these books, Anna shows us the necessary steps she took to understand what she ultimately came face to face with—being taken advantage of, misused, and abused in her childhood. No one should have to experience these things during this most vulnerable and innocent state, but she did, bravely. In doing so, she propelled herself toward a life relieved of the depression and the nagging lack of connection she had felt in her childhood and beyond. Annabel was filled with hope and a changed outlook. These books are a testament to what addressing the somber and horrific bits in our lives can do for our psyche. They share with us not only the possibility that things could get better but that we can thrive in an even happier and more stable future for having done so.
What is saddening is that in a society where this occurs too often, many readers will probably be able to identify with Annabel’s excruciatingly honest reflections, art, and thoughts, having gone through similar situations. But on the other hand, should these pages reach them, they will learn that hope is on the horizon if they can break through their trauma too. Possibly they will see their necessary healing tucked in these words and images. Ultimately, it’s a beautiful thought these books could have a pay-it-forward effect on a large segment of readers.
I’m thankful that Annabel asked me to read her books; they will stay in my thoughts for some time to come. I will likely review them often as the writing is direct, honest, and carries such depth. It’s a habit of mine to gravitate towards good writing.
I leave you with a sample of her exquisite writing. This piece is from the first book – Journey into the Dark and the Light.
Feeling Small and Lost
My inner child cries, “Help!” as my outer adult stands and watches, unable to move, unable to talk, unable to assist …
even unable to scream.
How will I find my way out of this dark labyrinth— what others call my mind— if I cannot move forward and help myself?
The road is long, and I am weary; I am cold, and I feel old.
What will be my salvation? Where will I find my asylum?
Surely not inside myself, for I feel I have meagre strength for such a hard journey into the depths of my soul.
I recently came across a Messenger thread from eight years agoI’d written to a friend. It was a message that I’d shared with many on my Facebook friend’s list too.These thoughts were written three days after the Sandy Hook shooting…
I woke up at 3:30 AM this morning with an overwhelming urge to fix what was wrong with this world. The sadness from the Sandy Hook shootings seems to be the last straw for my psyche, especially with all the other things that have transpired for my family and me this year. I need to ‘heal’ emotionally from all the upheaval in my life and from all the rottenness I see occurring everywhere. My nerve endings are at the last bit of handling stuff, and me being as emotional as I have been since this morning is a real good indication of it.
The thing I keep coming back to is ‘How do we teach people to care, and how do we make it easier for the next person?’ I don’t know if you can ‘teach’ that. Still, I have to think that, as mature and responsible people, we will do whatever it takes to, at the very least, do what is necessary for our own families, our inner circle, and in our communities to reflect humanity that will go a long way towards avoiding, solving and changing the possible tragedies to hope-filled possibilities.
It’s not just situations like the Sandy Hook shooting that is a burden to us all, things as simple as not doing what you said you would do contribute to the pain of others. Let us end the cycle of disappointment we create for people when we aren’t being as responsible as we should be.
I wish that we all, myself included, become kinder, gentler, and more loving people towards our fellow human beings and creatures. I need your help to call me on it when I’m not doing that, and I hope you’ll respect me when I see that a kinder, gentler you could handle a situation differently. I sincerely want unnecessary heartache to end. Life is one immense suffering after another already, but it seems to me that it would not be quite as sucky if we had more good times in between or at the very least a less chaotic life if all people had more peace.
My recent personal ‘bad times’ are my reality, and I’m ok with those. Healing happens in unique ways when we see things for what they are, but the intentional cruelty I see so much of has got to stop. I want to do what I can, and I hope that you will be a part of it with me. Thanks for letting my guts spill out and taking the time to listen to me. Hopefully, my humanity will touch you in a way that we can see some real change in this world. It might feel or sound silly to you and feel free to tell me that I’m all wet, but I feel like I HAVE to do something… anything… everything. I want something better for myself, my family, my friends, and the entire world. The unnecessary hurts need to end.
As I reread my thoughts from so long ago, I wonder if anything has changed at all. Thoughts?
I’ve always said humans are both – detrimentally stupid and utterly complicated.
The wide variety of situations we find ourselves in and the sheer volume of inappropriate choices we make, show us time and time again we are. We depend on our feelings and instinct, and then stupidity inevitably makes an appearance. Full-on reaction mode.
The best stance to take in all complicated situations is to clearly and calmly reflect on what the hell occurred to create this current tizzy. Determining the next best, logical step to take would be most prudent.
New subscriber!
I Write Her 