Authentic. Showing Up. Living Life. Striving.

Judgement is a word that has been brought up frequently. The women I work with live in a constant state of anxiety and fear of being judged by others. Today, a group of teenage girls started talking about how they constantly perceive others to be judging them. They were eventually able to start to grasp that it was their perception though, not a truth or reality. But our perception is our reality and truth right?  A couple months ago, the work of Dr. Kristen Neff, a psychologist, was brought to my attention. She has extensively researched and studied self-compassion. I love the three components that she has identified as the core of self-compassion-  1.  Self-kindness: being kind to ourselves instead of constantly criticizing and judging our every thought, feeling, action, appearance, etc etc 2.  Common Humanity- recognizing that we are all humans. We are all mortal and vulnerable. We all experience a myriad of feelings and emotions. We are all connected as a result ...

Lately this word/feeling/emotion has come up a lot in my work. Being a therapist, many of my clients struggle with fear. Fear of the future. Fear of the unknown. Fear of change. Fear of not changing. Fear of failure.  Fear of being viewed differently. Fear of honesty. Fear of losing their identity in their disorder.  Anxiety increased yet? I've realized lately just how much we all typically lead lives ruled by fear. How much does fear keep you trapped? According to dictionary.com, the definition of fear is " a   distressing   emotion   aroused   by  impending danger ,   evil,   pain,   etc.,   whether   the   threat   is  real   or   imagined;   the   feeling   or   condition   of  being   afraid." How much of our fear is real versus how much is imagined? I came across a Zen proverb last week that said "leap, and the net will appear."  Wow... I'm still trying to p...