Sometimes this is exactly what we need.

It doesn’t quite pertain, but I thought it was too lovely not to share.

Peace,
Cat A-J

Hey guys! Thought you might want to give this a listen.

I’m not sure that I really appreciate the way that the host discusses self injury, I can hear the bias in her voice and word choice. However the information provided by the guest speakers is interesting and the fact that this is being openly discussed in the NPR forum is important. I think we should all take a listen if we can.

What do you think of it?

…that you can do anything.

Hey Guys,

Again, life has been hectic but I promise you (once again) that I have not forgotten this project. As a matter of fact I am doing an independent research project that involves this topic, so very soon I will have a lot of great facts for you. This project is not one where any person needs to have faith, but my research for school is on the role of spirituality in healing, specifically within the community of self injury. So, on that note, I have an article for you from the Huffington Post on the power of storytelling. This is clearly not just a spiritual task, but one for any person. Perhaps, if you are so inspired, you will post your story below (anonymously if you’d like). Or maybe you would like to send it to me in a message and have it posted, or just send it to me for my eyes alone. Either way, try to tell your story, it might help.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dori-baker/storytelling_b_825128.html

And a couple quotes for good measure:

“Nothing worth doing is completed in our lifetime, Therefore, we are saved by hope. Nothing true or beautiful or good makes complete sense in any immediate context of history; Therefore, we are saved by faith. Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone. Therefore, we are saved by love. No virtuous act is quite as virtuous from the standpoint of our friend or foe as from our own; Therefore, we are saved by the final form of love, which is forgiveness.” -Reinhold Niebuhr

“Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.” -Leo Buscaglia

Peace,

Cat A-J

Today, March 1st, is Self Injury Awareness Day

~ ~ ~

41% of people believe self-harm is selfish and 55% that it is stupid

Self Harm is thought to be the second highest reason for Hospital Accident and Emergency admissions (with the top being ‘accidents’).

Approximately three teenagers (13-19) self injure every hour in the UK.


One in ten people have harmed by the age of sixteen.


43% know someone who has self-harmed.

~ ~ ~

“Hope is that thing with feathers that perches in the soul and sings the tune without the words and never stops… at all” - Emily Dickinson

“The stars are always there but we miss them in the dirt and clouds. We miss them in the storms. Tell them to remember hope. We have hope.” — Renee Yohe

Hey There!

I apologize for my absence recently, things have become hectic and my books had not arrived. Until this week! Indeed 3 books arrived at my post office and I am thoroughly excited to start working through them and sharing this information with you.

I would like to share an article with you from the Huffington Post about depression on college campuses.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/julia-lurie/everyones-battle-confront_b_813685.html

I found it a well written essay on depression in the college setting, as well as the silence that social norms seem to enforce upon many about mental health issues. This article does not directly deal with self-injury, however I feel that it relates in it’s discussion of resources available on college campuses and how difficult it can be to get help and for that help to stick, as well as the expectations heaped upon youth.

This old article (2006) relates in some of it’s facts. I thought I would include it just because. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/06/06/earlyshow/contributors/tracysmith/main1685800.shtml

As well, here is an article from September about embedding that has become more widely recognized recently:

http://health.usnews.com/health-news/family-health/brain-and-behavior/articles/2010/09/07/self-embedding-takes-teen-self-injury-to-the-extreme

I hope this makes up for my disappearance. I promise I have not forgotten or abandoned this.

I do want to know one thing: For many people, self injury begins at a younger age than college, where there are mental health programs in place. How can people who are not in those institutions, who are younger, get help? What sort of programs could be put into place for those around the age of 11, when, from what I’ve observed, many people begin their injury? Is it through school? Through outside programs? If outside programs, how do younger people get to be a part of those? (Reply in the comment box below).

Peace,
Cat

Hey All!

I hope you have plans for New Years that suit your style! As we ring in the new year in whatever way we do, people often make resolutions. I know I’ve got a couple.

Anyone care to share their New Years resolutions with the community? I’d love to hear your answers in the comment box! Maybe if we all share we can help each other keep them.

Mine is two-fold:
1. Go to Kung Fu (I practice) at least twice a week.
2. Use everything in my power to research and get this project off the ground. Call in connections, make new ones, read, and plan like nobody’s business to make this a reality. Together I know that this could be a success.

I am so pleased to have all of you around and I hope to produce something everyone can benefit from. I’ve got one year until the first test group begins. Then revisions, more revisions, more revisions and then hopefully a great basis for a support group that can be replicated everywhere. One year from tomorrow.

Let’s do it!

Peace and Happy New Year!
Cat A-J

(Don’t forget to share your resolutions!)

I am sure that not all of you celebrate Christmas, but I hope your holiday season is well.

I know that this can be a difficult time for self-injury, so just keep your chins up, it will be okay!

I am getting 4 books on self-injury for the holidays and will be reading them over January. I hope to review them on here for you, as well as leave some tid-bits on the blog. If you are interested, here is my reading list:

-Helping Teens Who Cut: Understanding and Ending Self Injury - Michael R. Hollander

-Self Injury in Youth: The Essential Guide to Assessment and Intervention - Mary K. Nixon

-Comes The Darkness, Comes The Light: A Memoir of Cutting, Healing, and Hope - Vanessa Vega

-Bodily Harm: The Breakthrough Healing Program for Self-Injurers - Karen Conterio and Dr. Wendy Lader

Two of these have to do with cutting, but that is not all I will be reading about, please keep that in mind. It is simply one of the most common forms of self injury. So reviews will be coming soon after the books arrive!

Eat something comforting and listen to good music. Relax and be good to yourselves, after a whole year, you’ve made it through. Time to amp up for the next one. You can do it! We’re all here for you.

Peace,
Cat A-J

Happy Holidays to you too, I hope 2011 brings great things to you.

And thank you. That is the best gift I could have received.

Peace,
Cat A-J

I wrote this for a project in school this semester, it was a series of prayers (I am religious, but I am very accepting of other religions or people who are not interested in religion at all, being Unitarian Universalist). It was about my struggles with depression, including self-injury and other topics. This was the last piece in the collection, coming after a prayer about my recovery and I thought perhaps you might find it thought provoking, or (I hope) comforting, or at least, maybe aesthetically pleasing.

Opening Words for a New Life

We gather together almost as if by accident
to see the grace in the world manifested.
By recognizing the grace within each other
we are able to see the grace
within ourselves.
The moments we see as graceless,
full of anger, confusion or doubt
are the moments most full of grace.
For we are all human,
our foibles and falls show us that.
That there is nothing more beautiful
than the tumble,
and the gradual recovery:
The journey we make every day.
Let us come together,
to fall, to tumble, to collide;
to climb back up again
And to learn that out of chaos creeps peace
Slowly and steadily into our hearts.
Let us pray.

If you can see the beauty in the difficult times, remembering that these are a lot of what shape us to be the best version of ourselves (and I truly believe that without all of my struggles I would not be who I am now, and I am happy with myself). Our mistakes show that we are human, our ability to grow from them shows that we are great. I think everyone has the potential for greatness. Everyone. No exceptions. Granted to me, greatness is not showy, it is not changing the world or being the best, it is simply being ourselves, that act alone is greatness. We all have inherent worth and dignity and I hope that for those who do not see that within themselves, that one day you do.

I wish for this community to become a place where we can gather to see the beauty within each other, and help each other see the beauty within ourselves.

Peace,
Cat A-J