Blog Introduction: Ponder, not Paste.
I am in a season of life that involves many transitions. The visual that keeps coming to mind is an aerial shot of the city of Pittsburgh. If you have never been, it’s a beautiful city where the convergence of three massive rivers is at its center. The experience of traveling through this bustling city is different from your average one-bridge city. At the heart of the city, you are enfolded within change coming from several different directions. There is this sense that you are at the heart of movement on all sides that you can’t always see or trace or explain. There is a temptation towards confusion and chaos, but also an invitation towards growth and newness.
This is the experience of the season I am in. There is new life. There is movement. There is uncertainty. There is absolutely a temptation towards confusion and even despair of what has been left behind. There is, at the same time, an invitation to newness, joy and authenticity like I have never experienced before.
As I stand at the heart of my city of changes, with new paths and old coming together, I have felt a deep continual invitation from what I believe to be the Holy Spirit, if I may speak so boldly. I feel continually invited to start this blog to allow others to hear my reflections on this sacred season of change. The purpose being, not to impart all of my wisdom onto you in the midst of this change. And certainly not to preach mental health things to others alongside me as they go through the same changes as me. No, the invitation I believe is simply to let you into the car with me as we drive through a metropolitan of newness. To listen to the radio together, to share what we see out the window. To be confused and excited, hopeful, fearful and even angry at that guy who just cut us off, together. The main point being, traveling through a new city alone is no fun, but there is peace in having a companion.
You might be thinking two things, first might be along the lines of “I am not in the same season as you, I have moved past it”. Well, even if we are in different seasons, you can still ponder my reflections to help process the past or consider future experiences. And, the things I will share will not strictly be related to this season, but rather hopefully applicable to all.
Another valid rebuttal might be, “How can we have a conversation if I’m not your client and you are the only one doing the talking because it’s your blog?” I think this might be the most important point of this introduction that I would like to end on, that I hope you take with you. Yes, I have a PhD and a license. Great, love that for me. These two things will certainly add to my credibility when I am discussing mental health topics that come up along the drive. But, a license and a degree do not make me a gospel writer. I invite you to take what I share from my own life, and the perspective on mental health I bring into the discussion, and ponder the points I share, be curious about what it brings up for you and how it applies to your own life, what you relate to and what you don’t. Do not paste my experience over yours and expect it to fit perfectly. This will leave us both unhappy, I assure you. My experience will never be able to fully speak to the beautiful nuances of your own experience. It will always be limited. That does not, however, mean that difference is useless. Use what I share here about my personal and professional experience to dive deeper into your own life and your own story for the sake of your own growth. I hope to name things that aren’t commonly named, and to explore parts of the human experience that are commonly felt but not explicitly named. I hope to say things that others might feel but don’t know how to name. I hope to be authentic to spark more authenticity. Ponder, not paste.
If you do that, we will have a much better car ride. So buckle up, I look forward to joyriding with you.
-D.C.