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What does it mean to be human?
Struggle? Failure? Isolation?
Joy? Laughter? Success?
For some it is literal. Life. Death. Breath.
For others, it is deeper than the surface. Emotions. Experience. Consciousness.
For all, there is a story.
A story I want to capture.
Welcome to the
#ScaryStoriesproject
This is Biz...
This is Sherry...
"I was never a drinker as a teenager. Drugs were my vice back in the 90’s. I started drinking regularly when my now ex-husband and I separated. More so because it was a very controlling relationship and I had a new found freedom where I could do whatever I wanted and no one could stop me. It was a sneaky transition from independence to dependent... I didn’t grow up around alcohol, never saw my parents drink ever. But I loved the feeling of being inebriated. I loved not feeling anything. Years of me drowning my feelings and sorrow with alcohol became second nature. I chose alcohol over my children, over my safety, over my job, over my friends, over my soul. I was in a fog and didn’t realize it, until...
Until 8 years ago when I knew my time was up if I kept on the path I was on. My drinking was jeopardizing every real relationship in my life. I knew I needed to change and it took 1 brave soul to call me out on my bs. September 15, 2016 was my first day sober from alcohol. I am forever humbled by life continually kicking in the back door and ripping the rug right out from under me but also showing me that I am stronger than my addiction.
You don’t heal by going out & drinking to forget. You don’t heal by pursuing a bunch of meaningless connections. You heal on the evenings when you sit alone with your thoughts and on the weekends when you have no plans. Those solo car rides with the music up really loud mixed with the sound of your singing because nobody is listening. Through tears, difficult mornings, & multiple sleepless nights. You heal by doing all of the hard work. That’s the ONLY way."
This is Blaine...
“My journey is a journey from darkness to light. A journey we all must take, but for me it was highlighted in extremes extremes that made me value the preciousness sensitivity extremity and roughness and therefore the stillness and blessed remembrance and assurance of life. I went from the darkest times of madness and chaos in my mind to the most stable in Palisade blessing of stability. Not on my own. I had a lot of help. My mother, sisters, my father, good friends
helped me to come back to a home within myself. Although I still face challenges daily, as sometimes the world I create with in my mind is not in the world I create in this place, understanding remembering that I have the power to choose, to forget, to learn, to remember. I have the power to not know, to be still in life. I am not the student and not the teacher but the understanding of the necessity of both. My journey is the journey from darkness to light. The stability in my mind is not found any drug or in a traditional sense, although I still don’t neglect or say that that shouldn’t be used for healing. My stillness, my healing, my mind is found in light and I know that light exists in all of us. Anybody going through the same thing I went through, if you continue to love yourself and bring the light into your self your mind, at some pace, will catch up. I’m hoping for that day, realizing that day I know that day is true.”
This is Kendra...
“That bitch is dead”
To see yourself in others is a beautiful magical thing.
Today I dare you to open up to someone. You might just happen to be growing through the same things…
Life has a funny way of coming full circle and bringing people to you that you never expected.
Kendra is one of those people!
This year I have been graced with connecting with her over divorce, growth and just being a bad bitch in general.
We have ran similar timelines.
Marriage.
Divorce.
Growth into our best selves.
To see her shining now in all her power is such a gift! She glows from the inside out and you can’t help but want to be your best self around her!
To watch a woman die to her spouse, to herself, to the world but return in a healed power so strongly rooted in own knowing… oh man that is some beautiful stuff!
There is no need to discuss her struggles, her pain, her story because that bitch is dead.
I’m sooo incredibly proud to be someone that gets to walk through life with her, learn from her, and admire all she has done!
It is my hope that her light will be as infectious to you as it has been for me. That her powerful nature will spark something beautiful in you. And that her ability to heal herself will remind you that no matter where you are at, it will always get better!
This is Michaela…
“You have a tumor,” is not something anyone wants to hear. But I heard it last year, 2020 (the year that was already too crazy to even imagine). Gladly, the tumor I had was just benign. It was on my adrenal gland (on top of my kidney), causing so many problems for my mental and physical health. I went from being a happy, healthy person to a stressed, anxious, exhausted, and sore one. I felt like I had aged 50 years. I gained 40 pounds in a year, and that was with me going to the gym and counting calories. I couldn’t sleep, I couldn’t workout anymore because of the pain… even walking up the stairs was so difficult. My body was in a constant state of “Fight or Flight” mode because this tumor caused my body to produce 3x more cortisol than it’s supposed to. Cortisol is your major stress hormone. So imagine your body acting like it’s in a stressful situation 24/7… not fun. The effect of too much cortisol is called Cushing’s Syndrome. And that’s what I lived with for 5 years.
Now that I’m a little over a year post op, I am the happiest and most mentally stable I have ever been in my life. Therapy helped me through the rough times, and I’m almost off of medication. This whole experience has taught me to not stress about the small stuff, to live life to the fullest, and to never assume that you know what someone is going through. Invisible illness is real, chronic illness is real, and God is real. I wouldn’t have gotten through this without the support system around me and God’s love.”
