Kaleidoscope Placemats

I spent Saturday in the kitchen - I know, not my normal behavior. But I've noticed we aren't eating very balanced meals and decided if I did a little prep on the weekend, we would have more of the good stuff. Trouble is, once I started looking at recipes and put on my apron, everything took much longer than I expected. I'm really out of practice at the domestic goddess stuff. AND, we have several nearly complete meals in the frig, just waiting for someone to finish them off.

Sunday, I finished putting the Kaleidoscope material together - just in time to find out that my sister won't be able to come down to visit this weekend. No prob, I'll put the piece away until she can come down and then we'll work out how to finis it up.

 

Also, on Sunday, my friend the photographer came over for a quick photo shoot. The OS Quilt is done and I wanted to get a few descent pictures before delivering it to the owner. They'll make great greeting cards.

Next up

I'm tinkering with a couple patterns I really want to do and my not-so-plentiful stash but haven't set on my next project. And then, I get a ping from someone who wants some help with a project. Just in the nick of time :)

Daring Greatly - Shame Resilience

1. Recognize shame and understand its triggers
2. Practice critical awareness
3. Reach out
4. Speak about shame

I'm all about breaking down large tasks/strategies into small achievable chunks - that's what I do for a living. So this list is quite useful, and right up my alley. And the examples Brene' provides help me understand how she has applied them to her own life; I like knowing others have done this successfully. I also understand these seemingly simple steps can be difficult - BUT they aren't impossible.

In explaining how we deal with shame, Brene' identifies three basic responses - 3 rather obvious ones now that I've had some time to think about it.

1. Move away by withdrawing, hiding, silencing ourselves (my personal favorite)
2. Move toward by seeking to appease and please
3. Move against by trying to gain power over others, by being aggressive and by using shame to fight shame.

The key seems to be to stay logical, analytical when faced with shame - don't let my emotions take over. Brene' suggests repeating the word "Pain" out loud when you recognize that shame is in charge. What I realize from reading this section is shame has been in charge of certain things  in my life for so long, I've grown accustom, numb, fond of the silence.

I will stop on occasion and ask myself, "Just who is in control right now." And if the answer is shame, I'll acknowledge its influence and logic-out my next step.

As for the last assignment I gave myself... I reached out and talked to two people who suddenly showed up in my arena - or whom I finally acknowledged have been there for quite some time. In each case I talked about what I'm learning about shame and how it has influenced my life and behavior for years. We didn't speak about the specifics so I know I have a ways to go but today's practice of critical awareness will help me know how and what to say.

Hope is a wonderful sensation.