I’ve found life difficult recently. The realities and uncertainties of the world we live in have felt suffocating. One strategy helping me get through this period is riding the wave. When the dark thoughts and impulsions kick in, I remind myself that this feeling will pass. There are good parts to life, and I WILL see them again.
Safety is a crucial part of riding the wave. For me, this looks like telling the people I live with to check in on me, to remove potentially harmful objects from me, and to sit with me. For you, keeping safe might look different. It is important to identify the strategies that work for you before you need the safety plan in place.
Sometimes looking at the shoreline is helpful, but sometimes it’s not. More often than not, recognising where you are is more beneficial than focusing on where you could be. What does it feel like to ride a wave? What can you smell, hear, feel? Now, what does it feel like to ride your mental wave? What can you feel in your body? Where is this intense or numbing feeling sitting? Does it have a colour? It can be helpful to say these out loud or write them down.
I know it can be terrifying to confront the dark parts of ourselves. You might find it easier to do with someone close to you. Whatever you are feeling, no matter the size of it, you are feeling it for a reason. There is always a purpose in your pain. Please remember that.
We will make it back to shore. We might fall off our board along the way, but we will survive.
We are in this together.
-Ellen
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