Parts of Me

I've been reading The Body Keeps The Score for, I dunno, two or three weeks. It's a very good book but page 282 brought the whoa factor. Guess there's a reason that this chapter is titled Putting the Pieces Together.

Coping takes its toll... (281) Yup, I believe that.

We all have parts. Right now a part of me feels like taking a nap; another part wants to keep writing... Most people who know me have seen my intense, sincere, and irritable parts; some  have met the little snarling dog that lives inside me. My children reminisce about going on vacations with my playful and adventurous parts. (282)

How well we get along with ourselves depends largely on our internal leadership skills -- how well we listen to our different parts, make sure they feel taken care of, and keep them from sabotaging one another. (282)

I love the concept of internal leadership skills and "the mind as a kind of society."

The critical insight is that all these parts have a function: to protect the self from feeling the full terror of annihilation. (284)

Seriously, my mind was blown to the point that I was like I should have been a therapist. The 'Fugee claims that she has told me this before -- that I should be a therapist...

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Speaking of different parts, I bought a DNA kit -- largely because many people around me had done  the same thing.  Plus, after my aunt Al died, I got extremely curious about my paternal grandmother who I don't remember.

Had a gut feeling that I was part Senegalese and I was not wrong. However, according to the DNA results, the greater part of me is from Cameroon/Congo. What I wasn't expecting to feel is sadness but there you go; I'm feeling geographically scattered. I'm feeling the weight of the past -- especially with this current toxic environment...

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Decided to observe a yoga class today since I needed two more observances before my August 10th deadline. Woke up at "prepare for work time" so I picked an 8:30 a.m. class and it turned out to be a really special experience even though I wasn't practicing. Kate talked about the blood moon and the eclipse. We didn't see the eclipse but that doesn't mean it wasn't there, she said.

Kate went on to talk about having faith and honoring yourself. Those are serious topics but most of her class is approached with humor and I like that a lot. Toward the end of savasana, she sung briefly and it was shocking, initially, but she has a great voice and she chose part of a folk song. The whole class was special and I'm glad that I got up to receive that gift.


*Of course I had concerns about putting my DNA sample out in the universe