Reasons Why I Love My Body

this one was really hard to do, i had a lot of help! thanks guys! ;-) the edges are a little cut off, i hope you can read them...(good luck trying!)

celebrate your strength day picture

sorry it's not so clear, it's the best i could do!

my toolbox, pictures

here are the pictures i promised you!


(sorry, this one is a little blurry...)

all were made with craft foam (one of my favorite art supplies), puff paint, and hot glue. the box is a square black one. the sides are also decorated, but i didn't bother taking pictures of them...

my tool box

today in therapy, we starting building my toolbox. me being me of course, i redid the whole thing when i got home....my homework today was to add more things to my box. i'm proud to say that i added at least five things!

my toolbox is intended for me to use when things get really hard. when i have flashbacks/nightmares/intrusive thoughts, and all that other PTSD stuff. as soon as my tools are dry (i made them all out of craft foam, hot glue, and puff paint) i'll scan them in and post images. for now though, you'll have to be satisfied with a list of what i can remember...(i'm too lazy to go downstairs and look!)

~squeezing lemons-this is a relaxation technique that my therapist taught me. it's really simple-pretend to be squeezing a lemon with one hand. relax. do it again, harder. relax. do it again, as hard as you can. relax. repeat with other hand...this has been known to stop my leg from jumping up and down.

~humor...apparently, i'm a funny person, and my therapist says that when i joke around in therapy...ouch. i forgot what she said. but she did say something about humor being in my toolbox, so it's there!

~music/singing and making up silly songs

~art-of course! although, i'm busy with my art all the time these days (thanks Wounded Genius!)

~writing-this is something that comes naturally to me. i'm glad i have that outlet!

~exercise-i'm not sure how this will work for me, but i figured, if it's in my toolbox, i might try it out one day lol.

~take a walk outside

~telling someone i need help. saying what i need from them-this one is a real challenge for me.

~flesym dnuorg em spleh siht-sdrawkcab gnilleps

~counting-another grounding technique.

there are more, i just can't think of them right now. i hope to be able to scan and post them all tomorrow!

i also decorated the outside of the box, which was almost as much fun as making the tools themselves!

You Can't Change Your Past, But You Can Change Your Future

scanning was probably not the best method for posting this, but it's the only one i have at the moment. the part that says "sparkly" is on sparkly wrapping paper, "bright" is on neon orange cardstock. the animal print is a really comfortable (on the side that shows anyway) piece of fabric, "soft" is on velour paper. "fun" is actually on three layers, neon pink paper, squares, and then clear with white circles. "worry free" is on a shiny/sparkly silver wrapping paper, with colored dots.

my art journal cover

just finished it! i'm working on a few pages now too, (the first page was "celebrate your strengths") so you should be seeing more art journal posts coming up!

Celebrate Your Strength III

thanks so much to all my friends who helped me with this...you know who you are!

shower VI (i think)

icky body

yuck
yuck yuck
yuck ick yuck
yuck yuck
yuck
ew
ew icky icky icky icky ew
ew__ yuck yuck yuck __ew
ew__ yuck yuck yuck __ew
ew__ yuck yuck yuck__ ew
ew __yuck yuck yuck __ew
i ha _te this body this ha_ te it
ugly dirty smelly
ewew___ ewew
ewew___ ewew
ewew___ ewew
ewew ___ewew
icky____ icky
icky____ icky
body of____ mine :-(

mixed emotions...thanks rebbetzen!

Day 7-Drawing

Day 6-poem

trapped
stuck
watching eyes
keeping me
locked
inside
taking in
every
move
as i eat
wash
and snooze
staring
as i live
each day
while i
wish they'd
go away.

little sheep before a shower

'>

shower IV

asleep

nerves II (prayers welcome!)

nerves

hope

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okay, help me out friends!

which "baskets" are easiest to hold onto?

where should i put my hopes?

the travels of my pains

the bottom