Photo Friday - The Board!

My "Board of Empowerment" is basically done now - huzzah!!  I'm such a fan!  There are a few pics that are on the board twice because I underestimated the amount of space and collaged them and made them too small at first, then came back in with bigger ones.  I tried to watch for that and remove the smaller versions, but definitely missed a few.  So that's something I'll remedy over time.  But the overall effect is what I was going for, and it makes me very happy to see it full of people, places, memories, verses, and quotes that are inspiring or meaningful to me, celebrities and Peloton instructors and family and friends all included! ❤

The below pic was the day I started the process of cleaning the pictures off a couple weeks ago.  I love to reminisce, so this was mostly fun for me... but it was a PROCESS.  There were 20 years worth of layered photos on this board - we just kept stapling the new ones on top of the older ones.  At the point in the picture below, I had removed over 30 photos and only cleared a tiny little space. lol  Not to mention that each picture has 3-4 staples, so my fingernails are shot from the process of pulling them out.  (I figured out a little ways into it that my fingernails do it faster and hold on to the staples better than an actual staple puller, so that's what I did for the majority of the board.)

This was cute... and a pretty solid description. lol

Important advice...

On that note, I have an appointment set with a new counselor toward the end of this month.  It's been about five years since I've seen a counselor, and the last one turned out to be a negative experience because the counselor had unethical boundaries, so I haven't been in a big rush to get back into it.  But it's time.  This new woman also comes recommended by a friend, and I am hopeful that it will be a better fit.  I called to set it up at the end of February, but they were not able to work me in until late April.  I've been working on making a list of things I want to talk about... because it's natural for me to get to the counselor's office and then go blank and struggle to know where to start (always a challenge when you're trying to relay the most complex and layered parts of your story to a total stranger), or I'll struggle to think of anything really wrong in my life if I'm having a nice day and feeling okay with people right then.  It's very easy for me to sugarcoat everything and try to rush to find meaning in the hard stuff so I can tie a neat little bow on it and pretend all is well when I haven't honestly worked through my anger or grief or confusion or whatever else, and when I haven't really figured out how to move forward in a healthy way.  Denial and feigning happiness is not healthy, for the record. lol  So I'm feeling excited and hopeful about that appointment!  I want to press into the hard stuff so that I can become as healthy and whole and healed as possible... and so I can invest my time and energy wisely as I move forward!

That's all I've got for this Friday morning!

Hope you enjoy your weekend ahead!!