Couch 122 - Doin' what we do!

ART - Your feathers are beautiful!! Thank you for sharing the picture! I have a little that loves finding them also. It made her heart smile.

I resisted the idea for 2 years. I hated the thought of an inner child. I told my T I would kill the little runt before I'd help her.
Since I experience the shamanic world in part as a wolf for a long time she and I just fought, me a big she-wolf and her a stripling puppy. Growling and snarling and snapping and wrestling until I realized that if I really wanted to hurt her I would have already done it because I more than out matched her.

Then, during a visualization type exercise, my T suggested to the little wolf that if she wanted to best me, she'd be better off tickling me than wrestling with me .

I lost that round . and then I realized I loved the little spitfire.

And the rest has been an adventure.

Art - what are you going to do with the feathers?

Perhaps it is an idea that resonates more with people who sought out a therapist for certain types of issues rather than other issues? I wonder if it is personality or issue that makes more of a difference. I also rarely hear male clients talk about their inner child. So I wonder if therapists use it more with women or if women are just more willing to talk about it using that language.

I have a hard time seeing myself in parts maybe layers like an oak tree or onion

Growing up with 2 brothers I know they were allowed to goof off, make mistakes, and be irresponsible into their 20's. "Boys will be boys"
Whereas I was cooking their meals at 9.
I think there may be more pressure on girls to act mature and responsible at a younger age. Particularly in families where the parents are failing at parenting. That might be part of it.

Though I do know 1 guy who did the inner child thing.

I'm sure it is more of a thing for people who had experiences that kept them from acting like children when they will children.

I also think since its sort of a creative visualization it likely works better for creative types. My wife is a very nuts and bolts , literal sort of person and the idea makes no sense to her at all

Do you have pictures from your childhood? Im still responding to the picture of 3 yr old Artie on the rocks by the waterfall. I can just hear her yelling, "this is my milieu!" That joy is in all her outdoor photos.

I think ts get from the relationship gratification equal to what we get. If we're happy, theyre happy. If we're disappointed, they are too. If they cant reach us, probably they are not thrilled. Part of their job is to be patient. Theres no telling when that will pay off. Or if they will be there when it does.

BB -Maybe that is it - although I consider myself creative and I never, ever wanted to be a child. I like being an adult. I even like being a late middle aged adult. I would not want to be a child of any sort in any situation ever again.
So I would guess it has more to do with going to see one of those guys for issues about one's parent/childhood/upbringing more than creativity. But that is just from myself.

My sibling, a male, would probably love doing the inner child sort of thing/talk without blinking. He is all touchy feely.

Well, nothing works for every body. I'm creative but those role play talk to your parents or whoever things absolutely are worthless for me

Well I don't want to BE a child. For me inner child stuff is about having compassion for how powerless my childhood self was. And about letting her know that it gets better. She gets away. Shell be an adult with a horse and a car and a job and people who love her and never ever ever will she have to go back to the place we grew up.
For me its about catching my younger self up , not sending my older self back

Found Feathers and the Feather Atlas - The Infinite Spider

Some info. Some years ago a visiting friend brought me a feather she found and i of course freaked out. Jill of all trades, mistress of none!

Oh yes - those would not be for me either.
Of course- what works for me with a therapist could be described as somewhat narrow. So I am perfectly willing to believe that nothing works for everybody as almost none of it works for me.

RE feather felonies:
If the law supposes that," said Mr. Bumble, squeezing his hat emphatically in both hands, "the law is a as s — a idiot.

Lord I picture bad photos of me with a home bowl cut and seventies rainbow turtleneck. Parents who weren't sure what gender child they wanted. Peppermint patty eat your heart out War paint forest kid Some of my photos are truly bizarre. They scream awkwardness. I wish I had an empowering photo like art has. I may have some scruffy ones that are a bit less awkward.

Thanks for your take on what a t might feel. I have a hard time holding onto the idea that they might actually care in a real way

Ignorance of the law is no excuse.

Eta - again, sorry. Not a safe place for me, but i can make it so.

Indeed it is not the thing that keeps one from being guilty or not.

I always look oddly wary in early photographs. Ours were always staged - my family is not much into taking photographs.

Mine was lots of photos where I was forced to smile and pretend we were a happy family.

Meh, not seeing T for another one month. This comes on the heels of another one month gap.

She said she'd save Friday last slot once a fortnight for me, but other patients need them again.

I feared that and it happened.

Quiet mind when will t's schedule open up again?

I'm sorry you have to wait so long. I'm having trouble waiting for the insurance to kick in

"You must never speak ill of the law. Only people who can't get in do that." - Lady Bracknell.

See, i am too changing! My t appt today was at the same time Tim Kaine is gonna be here, i found out on sunday. Here as in a couple of blocks away! The OLD me would have been all "proactive", i.e., not trusting t to handle his own business. The new me just waited for his text this morning, changing our appt time. Still might be tricky getting there. One time i got stuck in a george bush traffic jam that was just ridiculous.

Oh good lord. I didn't need to see that today. I was already having a bad day by waking up with a pounding headache because of stressing about this stupid project at work that seems to never end (that was supposed to be for the month of July) and now I find out I am breaking the law by picking up dove feathers. ****. I think my heart is breaking now.. something that brought so much joy to my inner young girl is breaking the law. it has just been confirmed. I am bad like they told me all those years ago. ****. it's not your fault unaluna you didn't make the law.

Dove and pigeon feathers are on the it is okay list.

only some eurasian dove. the doves in my backyard are white-winged doves.