15 Final Thoughts to the Reader
Thank you for coming alongside us to learn about the role of journaling, personal health and wellness in recovery. We appreciate that recovery is very hard and long-term work that requires trusted friends, family and health care professionals
We want to remind the readers that we are also continuing on our individual recovery journeys and the work is always ongoing. Brene Brown in the book, The Gifts of Imperfection reminds us of the following:
“coming at this work with a full understanding of how the shame tapes and gremlins keep us feeling afraid and small allows me to do more than present great ideas: this perspective helps me share real strategies for changing our lives. If we want to know why we’re all so afraid to let our true selves be seen and known, we have to understand the power of shame and fear. If we can’t stand up to the – never good enough and who do you think you are? We can’t move forward (p. 6).”
We also acknowledge that at times, we are vulnerable and sharing our journey means we are brave. Liamputtong (2007) in her book on how to best work alongside and understand vulnerable people states that it is important to understand that there is no one “single reality or truth” (p. 15) to your journey and this is your own journey alongside your trusted health and healing practitioner.
As well, Brene Brown (2010) states we experience challenges and times when an unraveling occurs. This may be a time “when you feel a desperate pull to live the life you want to live, not the one you’re “supposed” to live. The unraveling is a time when you are challenged by the universe to let go of who you think you are supposed to be and to embrace who you are” (pp. xii-xiii).
As we build this book, we are conscious we are both in educator roles, and are each intertwined in the communities we serve. Cooper et al. (2018) remind us of the importance of setting a “positive example about practice” (p. 336). In this workbook, and in this case, we are caring for a group of people who may not access health care due to shame and guilt, and in turn, be under-served. We seek to support you to become connected with trusted practitioners who will review the contents of the journal with you.
Finally, to end this book, we would like to share some knowledge from Maxime Greene (2001). This is that reflecting on shapes of childhood and our past allow us to reach out to the world for support. But how that support arrives varies. Greene reminds us that “we cannot return to the landscapes of those pre-reflective days. We can only become present to them by reflecting on them. Yet even so, if we do make the effort to reflect upon them, we become far more present to our enmeshed and open-ended selves” (p. 73).
Thank you.
