Photo by Season Atwater for Simply the Sweet Life Magazine
(Side note: Now that the mag is live, I can show you guys my fave shots from this picnic shoot! I think I'll sprinkle some pics in with posts every now and then. I just love sprinkles.)
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Sometimes my work as can be especially challenging.
Yesterday, was my first group at a residential treatment center as an art therapist contractor.
Yesterday, I met, head-on, a whole new level of challenges.
To be honest, I'm still recovering.
Like I said in yesterday's post, it was a hard day.
There's this quote I have on our computer's desktop:
"Hard-earned achievement brings a sense of self-worth. Work builds and refines character, creates beauty, and is the instrument of our service to one another and to God. A consecrated life is filled with work, sometimes repetitive, sometimes menial, sometimes unappreciated but always work that improves, orders, sustains, lifts, ministers, inspires."
-Elder D. Todd Christofferson
I read that quote often and I often need that quote.
I needed that quote when I got home yesterday and all I wanted to do was pull the plug on this contract job.
That quote reminded me that you often have to go to some difficult places in order to ever accomplish anything of value.
It reminded me that regardless of others' response, my work as an art therapist is good and important work.
It reminded me that I can do hard things.
I've been thinking a lot lately about the way we talk to ourselves and how our inner dialogue can shape the way we view our ability to succeed, especially when the cards are stacked against us.
My mom is a go-getter and that's how she raised her five daughters.
Whenever I was faced with a challenge, my mom would be the first person to say,
"Hey. You got this. Go for it."
Sometimes I believed her and sometimes I didn't.
Now, as an adult living my own life, I still automatically have that mindset when I feel overwhelmed and scared.
Only now, instead of hearing it from my mom, I'm hearing it from myself.
"Hey. You got this. Go for it."
And I believe it when I say it.
23 comments:
That's so wonderful, Sam.
I really needed to hear this quote today, too. It's been a tough one, but it seems live every blogger I love is publishing exactly what I need to hear today! Tender mercies.
Such great advice! and you are going to be an amazing mother when that opportunity comes! Putting this down for myself as well as for later when I have kids.
and if the voice inside of you is ever not enough you know that there is a whole blogosphere out here cheering you on. :)
Beautiful photo!!!
great post for today. Thank you!
good for you. being your own biggest motivator is an accomplishment in itself.
beautiful picture, your eyes practically pop off the screen!
You are an inspiration to so many. Thank goodness for good families who raised you in such a way that you can now support and motivate yourself during hard times. You're amazing!
Love that quote! And our mamas sound very similar :) Hope your day is going better than yesterday! xo
hi, sam! so i was looking on ellen's blog, saw your blog title from this post and came to your page and recognized you and your husband from our old ward! i'm sad we never met.
anyway - the title grabbed my attention because i was saying that saaame thing to myself as i drove away from my parents' house crying on our way to move to california. i heard it in a general conference talk i just listened to as well and thought i'd pass it along :) http://lds.org/general-conference/2008/10/a-return-to-virtue?lang=eng
great novel to introduce myself, huh? hope the rest of the week is happier and a little bit easier!
ps - your artwork? absolutely incredible. i'm in love with it.
I love this post! And I completely agree with everything in it.
Personally, I have the most difficult time dealing with condescending or mean people in the workplace. Besides reminding myself that I have no idea what these people are going through in their personal lives, I also remind myself of how great I am and how much I am capable of accomplishing. I try to remain confident in myself! :)
Great quote. Great photo. Great person sharing them!
I don't know if you've ever read Eat, Pray, Love, but in that book, the author, Elizabeth Gilbert talks about having a mantra that you can repeat to yourself several times a day. I love that dialogue from your mom. It would be a very worthy mantra. I might steal it as my own. :)
I'm not Mormon, but that quote definitely spoke to me. It could apply to nearly any religion, really. Good for you for facing the challenges head on. I admire that strength and wish I had more of it.
You're right...you've got this! Go get em!
I love that quote by the way. Your work is so meaningful...art therapy can be a tool to overcome trauma, mental illness, disability...almost anything. I don't think enough people understand the importance of therapies beyond "talk therapy" to make a significant difference. Your work is powerful, you are powerful working in service to people and God....
So yup, you've got this!!!!!!!!
Cheryl
First off, You look AMAZING in that picture. Just stunning my dear!
Second, I think it is very true that our own dialogue in our heads have a lot to do with the outcome or feelings about a new Mountain to climb in our lives. I always try to remember "can do this with God's help". Guess what? I always am able to do it with His help. :)
Thanks for the post and your openness. It doesn't hurt to hear it from other people too so I wanted to let you know... You got this, you can do it! Go for it girl! :)
what a glorious post! i love that quote.
also, you and yours make quite the darling couple.
Okay....the part about our inner dialogue shaping us is so true. Dead on and I love love love this post!
this was such an inspirational post, sam. i completely feel the same way today, and i had a similar conversation with my mom. having someone to tell you "you can do it!" really is amazing.
i like the inspirational motif to this post, but i just have to admit that when i read the post title, the first thing i thought was "that's what she said". ha sorry i'm an inappropriate teenage boy.
this is so encouraging - thanks for sharing. i'll be saving that quote, for sure.
Love that quote and this post! D. Todd Christofferson has become one of my favorites. He says things so directly, but eloquently. His talks are excellent!
such a great reminder! thanks for this. x
while i don't know what happened, i do work as a therapist at a residential facility so i understand the extreme challenges that come up on a regular basis in that sort of environment. it's a really tough place to work at, but if we therapists can be strong enough {and personally removed enough} to hold a container for any sort of chaos which may occur, then we are providing the best sort of therapy for the patients. sometimes the best work we can do is to show up again and again, no matter what. it tells our patients that they matter, that they're cared for, and that they are not "too much" for us {which is what they often feel after all the loved ones in their lives have avoided them/sent them away}. obviously you have to find the right place for you in the career world, and if this isn't it, then you should set your boundaries. but if this is a case of a really hard experience shaking you, then i hope you can do some self-care, find a great therapy cohort to reflect with, and remind yourself how powerful your presence can be.
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