Dear Readers,
How much space does your Eating Disorder take up in your brain? Samuel wrote, “After my life passing in the grips of my eating disordered thoughts, I find it difficult to imagine what life would look like without them ruling the brain.”
This week I challenge you to fill your brain with other thoughts. For however many minutes you can manage. 2 minutes. 5 minutes. 10 minutes. Engage in something that takes up space in your brain so the disordered thoughts have no room. We welcome to you email a sentence or two (or seventy-three) about your experience to feature on the blog. Email Kmccarthy@sheenasplace.org
Take good care of yourself, and remember to nourish your body, mind, and spirit.
Your blog moderator,
Kira
Over 1/3 of my life has been consumed by my eating disorder (and I’m currently still in recovery, on the squiggly up-swing).
This period of time is a blessing and a curse simultaneously. The blessing is, that it helped me cope for many years with other very distressing occurrences in my life. The curse is, that I could have developed better coping mechanisms, but at the time it is all I had. It seemed natural to get my self-worth from body image. But it’s not. And so it began…
After my life passing in the grips of my eating disordered thoughts, I find it difficult to imagine what life would look like without them ruling the brain. Relationships, career, hobbies, family, health, experiences, etc. What have I missed out on? Or more importantly – what can I look forward to? 🙂
Today, every day, I fight rigidity & self-hatred. I know when I’m in my disease because it reflects in how I treat others [they are victim to my ED thoughts as much as I am]. To recover, I muster positive energy & re-wire neurons on a daily basis by engaging in healthier activities, behaviors, places, things & people. Saying “yes” to new things is good for me, whether it is “yes” to foods, conversations, people, work, challenges, or trusting others.
I repeat: Everything will be ok. Everything will be ok. Everything will be ok. Just focus on recovery & fluidity (I come from cement rigidity). There is no box to fit in, other than the one that floats around my body, formed on my changing self.