Creative Anxiety: Challenge: Inner Spirit. Inner Drive.

Saturday, October 20, 2012

Challenge: Inner Spirit. Inner Drive.

Another day, Another CHALLENGE! We dare you...

So like our journaling challenge, we want to get you up and moving forward in your journey to find strength and peace inside of ourselves. We most certainly don't want you to stop journaling - goodness no! Keep that a weekly or even daily constant in your life to see the real results! The longer you do it and the more time you devote to it, the more you will flourish from it. I have been doing SO much journaling lately to identify triggers better in my life. I also use journaling to just plain ole get some emotions out on paper so that they may be free!

So you ask, what's this next challenge going to be? I promise I won't ask you to juggle fire while on a unicycle...unless of course...that's what you think might be your calling. But what I am asking you is to find something that ignites you. Something that truly makes you feel fulfilled! Hopefully whatever it may be, it brings you an escape from your anxiety as well! C and I shared our creative outlets, and what has truly helped us to find a new form of managing our anxiety. We not only feel at peace when we're doing these wonderful things, but we feel fulfilled in ourselves in a way our typical day at work, or stop at the nearest mall could ever get us. Through yoga, photography, and dance we have become more of the people we were meant to be! We give to others and in return are inspired not only by those that we work with and around, but by ourselves as well.

It is important in life to stay true to yourself and your inner wants and needs, so whether it be an old hobby you put to the wayside, or something you've always wanted to try....DO IT! You have nothing to lose. If you even just get your foot wet into whatever this marvelous talent or love of something is....then your bettering yourself. We need to stop and remember that, even in the busiest of times, it beyond important to feed our souls! So go on...go pick up that crochet needle and make some scarves for your families...and maybe a few homeless folks. Go take a zumba class with a friend since you could both benefit from both the physical and mental boost that comes along. Or heck, go take an art class because you NEVER have and would love to expand your horizons. You never know where these things may take you, and without a doubt we know you are going to feel amazing for even just trying.

Last but not least...
Come on and SHARE your stories with us, let us know what inspires YOU...because you inspire US!

☮ - M

4 comments:

TimSIU20October 21, 2012 at 8:32 PM
I'm so proud of you girls! I see throughout each blog entry that you are both VERY passionate about finding happiness within yourselves, and truly intent on creating a community where others can feel at home. Best of luck, and keep up the great work!
ReplyDelete
Replies
jujushoeOctober 22, 2012 at 3:32 AM
You are so right. Being in tune with ourselves is #1. It is such a challenge to not get lost in our own crazy brains or go on auto-pilot and disconnect when life gets hectic. I am going to have to work at this challenge for sure. I know my tendency is to keep myself "busy" when I feel anxious, but the "busy" isn't with something I love or feel passionate about. I will let you know what I come up with ;-)
ReplyDelete
Replies
UnknownOctober 22, 2012 at 7:46 PM
Auto-Pilot is something that is hard to stay out of, especially in today's fast paced world. We all just have to remember that dinner can wait just another 5 minutes...go have a dance party with the kids really quick first! (Hey it may even help their appetite!) Or those 4 parties we were invited to in one weekend, well sometimes you just have to say NO. Find the happy medium and remember what is really important!

If we lose ourselves in daily life, we'll wake up one morning and realize that we never quite fed our soul. Well that's just sad! Very excited to hear what you challenge yourself with...keep us posted! :)
ReplyDelete
Replies

Add comment

The girls who started it all...and their stories.

Well hello there! My name is Megan and here’s my little tale:

It’s safe to say that the person I am today is a far different one than I was many years ago. As many of you know, dealing with anxiety seems like an uphill battle some days, and I’ve felt like for most of my life I have been struggling to get to the top of that hill to safety. My anxiety started very young and mainly revolved around the constant fear of something medical going wrong with me. I was definitely a hypochondriac, and gave myself unnecessary amounts of anxiety over little to nothing at times. After passing out a few times due to seeing my own blood, both fainting and blood became huge triggers for me. This led me to avoid many situations, namely doctors’ offices, etc. My anxious symptoms were like that of fainting or having a heart attack and at any given time, I felt like my world was crashing and I was about to die.

…which brings me to my next chapter with the “beast”. By the way, I call anxiety the “beast” because it truly takes on its own entity at times. Anyhow, my next chapter is one of quite the lengthy time frame. It was all exacerbated when one day a tragedy hit close to home. My dad had got into a motorcycle accident and died instantly. This, as for anyone, sent my world spinning at the speed of light. It was then that my fear of death and dying amplified. I was constantly feeling sick, or like an 80 pound elephant was sitting on my chest. I didn’t know what I was feeling, nor did I really talk to anybody about it, which made it worse. Junior high, high school, and even my first few years at the junior college were plagued by constant worry; self esteem issues, horrible panic attacks, and so on. I somehow managed to make it through as normal as possible but I was hurting on the inside and most definitely not living a full life.

Once I went away to college my anxiety had stabilized. It was by no means gone, but for some reason it had subsided to a point of decent comfort. Those few years were as relaxed as they could be, and life seemed to be pretty good. It wasn’t until about a year ago that the “beast” began to really rear its ugly head again. This time it was back tenfold, however, and I was determined to find a happy place…one of comfort and happiness. And that my friends is where I’m at today, trying to find a true life of bliss. This last year has been a hard one, but through a lot of self discovery and branching out into new avenues, I am slowly piecing together what works best for me. So far I have found inner strength through trying new things such as yoga, supplements, and creative outlets such as photography, dance, and art. My hopes in build a community through Creative Anxiety is that I can reach out to others who strive to better themselves and others who deal with this unfortunate beast.

Hi there, I’m Chrissy!

My journey with anxiety has been a long one (or so it feels), dating back to when I was in high school. I had been struggling for a while in social settings and changes, but had chopped it up to being an average teenager. It was my first anxiety attack that painted a clearer picture as to what I had been dealing with. And so began the journey…

My first attack was something I will never forget and has created a foundation for where I stand today. My first attack also explains a lot of my history and was a breakthrough for me in getting the necessary help I needed at the time. It was triggered by a past traumatic experience. When I was fourteen I had been raped. The setting in which it took place was visually recreated which induced my first and most horrific panic/anxiety attack. This was a breakthrough in a lot of ways for me. I had not told anyone, spoken about it or personally revisited the memory for four years until that day. When my family was informed I gained the support I needed to start my battle against ANXIETY!

After learning what anxiety was, how it works and being fed drug after drug by doctor after doctor I was really getting nowhere. I was feeling zombie-esque on the medicine, having bad withdrawals and feeling sedated for the majority of the time. This is when I decided to take a different path.

See…my brain automatically links my anxiety now to being raped and the feelings that were felt in that situation. It is such a feeling of disgust and helplessness that motivate me to free myself. I have problems in social situations and trusting others with anything and everything. I have a fear of being attacked, which feeds my anxiety daily in everyday situations and the constant negative self-talk is something I have to keep battling.

I have really two choices (the way I see it)…I can either lay down and feel sorry for what was and what now is or I can fight like hell to live the BEST life I can possibly live. I’ve chosen to fight! I believe there is a fix for this thing we all call ANXIETY and I am determined to find it. Through trial and error, trial and success and a lot of support I believe it is something that is attainable. Holistic, drug free, all natural healthy ways to heal is what I’m all about. So let this new journey begin in sharing what I’ve learned with other who might have walked in my shoes or who choose to walk right alongside me. Let’s fight on!