Author: A Fish Named Karen

Real, Raw, Truth Seeker, Survivor, Healer, Intuitive, Beautifully Human. All pictures belong to A Fish Named Karen
resilient

Need For The Sake of Need

A Fish Named KarenLeave a comment

Need. Having needs is part of the human experience. Most of us were taught that expressing a “need” was/is weird, sappy, weak, even selfish or mean. We also may stand in our own way of getting what is needed due to low self worth, not being able to express/form a need or feel humiliated for “needing” in the first place. The need for a quiet space, the need for someone to help us lift or move something heavy, the need to be listened to, acknowledged, the need to show emotion without it being a problem, the need for rest, the need to be honest and real without being cast as negative, the need to be who we are without apology.
Many of us stop ourselves from reaching out in need. As children we learn not to ask, we learn to handle things ourselves, be ultra-independent, stuff our hurts, emotions, fears, ignore bodily functions, even pass up food and drink – too avoid looking like we are too much work for our parents. In our little minds, it makes perfect sense to play and live small. Don’t appear weak, act like you know things that you possibly couldn’t know (no one has to spend the time on us, we are less of a burden) be self sufficient, keep everyone happy with us cause we are no trouble at all, no one will laugh at our needs if we keep them secret and deny that we have any. Everyone will love me and not think I’m a pain in the patootie.
As we grow into adults, away from our families of origin, We may never be met with ANY of this shaming responses around our need..

REMEMBER the world is not our family of origin.
We are most likely NOT going to be met with the attitude of our “family”. But sometimes it does feel as though we don’t want to stick our neck out with others for fear we will be humiliated (like we were as small children) all over again – just for having a simple need.
I think on some unconscious level we assume that others will negate our needs or ignore our expression of need. But to the contrary, in my experience, non-family members are not poised to fuck with our “need”. Take a chance. Take notice of what you say or do to stop yourself from getting your needs met cause now we’re just doing this to ourselves. WE are the snuffers of our own need, the dark blanket dimming our own light , the doubters of our own worth. Take notice of how you place the blame elsewhere.

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Welcoming Committee

A Fish Named KarenLeave a comment

Suicide – present situation

Guess what? That shit started 50 something years ago. Not HIS job, not HIS ex wife, not HIS daughter who decides to be a man now, not HIS crazy neighbor who throws garbage over the fence, no no no nope. Of course all that shit does not help but when someone decides to take his/her self out of this realm – it’s very tragic, gut wrenching. Of course! And leaves the living wondering what the fuck we could have done to help.

The answer ? Who the fuck knows. What I do know though, is that it is truly not our responsibility, ultimately, to keep someone alive. I know, that sounds bad. Really bad. There’s a boatload of guilt waiting for us if we feel we can save someone and it turns out badly. News flash… sadly, anything we’ve done or haven’t done is not going to keep someone else here.

Having a particular, recent person in mind ———–Someone taught HIM to hate himself. Someone taught HIM to feel like he had no right to be born, exist or thrive. SOMEONE got into HIS head, into his body, into his essence and implanted that self-hate agenda REAL SUPER early in HIS life. Crazy-ass fucked up treatment for a child. As children, we cannot make sense of this. Most children just internalize the trauma coming their way and believe they deserve it – after all, we need love, even if that love hurts, it’s still better than nothing. So then, most times, we spend the rest of our lives mistreating ourselves because deep inside, on some level, we think we are garbage.

All the other unfortunate circumstances HE drew to himself (along the way, over the years) were for the purpose of healing. IMO. The Universe’s attempt to crack HIM wide open. Some of us cannot/will not/do not EVER muster the willingness to unpack that shit. Unpack the black box of death. The box labeled with the skull and crossbones – and heal the trauma that hides in the shadows and rips us apart each and every minute of our lives.

HE missed his life raft opportunity – by choice. HE ignored the life-raft attempts, HE was tired of the struggle and just couldn’t see the big picture …there wasn’t enough alcohol or drugs in the world to keep the darkness from bubbling up into conscious thought. The nagging feelings of worthlessness and doom mounting until the burden of forging onward was too excruciating.

I attempted to end my life when I was 7. How fucking tragic would that have been? All because of the unspeakable trauma I was experiencing at the time, most nights of the week. The weight of physical/emotional/spiritual trauma, compounded year, after year, after year, is suffocating – all while pretending that everything is fine. Trying to forget, burying the pain and hate and rage and crushing anxiety. You convince yourself that no-one else would understand or, for that matter, believe you anyways. There is shame and guilt and self hate and secrecy.

Some of us seem to find our way. We are able, with lots of help, to eventually breathe life into the parts of us that died.  We are able to separate from the tragic family unit we were born into. We are able to dig deep, form a new self and find a reason to live, to fight – and know that no matter what, we have to survive because otherwise, we won’t “win” – THEY will. And that would not be acceptable.

No matter how fast and long we run – our terror, shame and rage are on the welcoming committee upon our arrival.  Wherever we run, they’re there when we pull in. Our shadow is always waiting patiently for us to notice it and drag up a chair at a table set for two. Maybe share a cozy meal as we chat over the brutal details we’ve been running from all of our lives. Taking small portions or maybe just an appetizer today.

Or not. Maybe we don’t unpack that shit and take a look. Maybe we can’t. This is a set-up for possible eventual suicide. Trust. Please start unpacking your shit. You are lovable, you are seen and you have the right to be here. And to stay here, loved.

childhood

Kids Don’t Care About Your Schedule

A Fish Named KarenLeave a comment

I miss looking under rocks for cool bugs to put in our bug-house. I miss packing a thermos of hot chocolate, 3 sandwiches and grabbing a loaf of stale bread to spend quality time with the beach seagulls.  20160108_220334880_iOSI miss creating a paper chain – one link for each December day with a fun activity written on each one. I miss nightly foot massages with mint foot creme. I miss getting tricked in the back yard, “Mom, there’s a coyote behind you”. I miss going to the pet store to visit with a dog even though we never brought one home. I miss writing with chalk on the driveway and tracing our bodies. I miss going for a walk in the woods after a snowstorm to see how deep the snow was. Lying in the snow and looking at the blue Winter sky. Snow angels and forts. Coloring the snow with spray bottles of water and food coloring. I miss homemade birthday parties in the yard. Pinatas, tractor rides with b-day friends all peering through binoculars on a pretend safari ride through the backyard woods spying for parrots in the trees.  I miss scoring (1-10) the jumps, dives and cannonballs into the pool, over and over. I miss hosting “Mom’s kitchen” – a fictitious restaurant that breaks out in the kitchen. I play hostess, waitress and line cook in a matter of minutes, listing every possible food item in the fridge -appetizer, entrée, sides, dessert, drink, etc. and take their orders on my “order pad”. (a great way to get rid of straggler food in your fridge and make your kids feel special at the same time, win, win)

My boys are no longer little boys and I’m so glad we made these memories. Sometimes we don’t realize how good we had it. What often felt like a pain in the ass or too many things on our plate was plain and simple – the magic of life. Real and raw, unfolding in ways we couldn’t have guessed. Gratitude for lives that saw the value in each other and the deep understanding that lives just under the surface. Gratitude for trying my best as a Mom despite the insane role model I had.

Love your babies. Be ridiculously spontaneous. Kids don’t give a shit about your schedule. Everyday is wide open and fun. Give them your full attention and presence, as much as you can. Expose them to nature (I think the greatest gift of all) – create, build, explore.  And for Christ’s sake, put down the stupid phone.  This. Pure gold.