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Thank you for reading this. I wish I could give you a hot cup of tea and a big blanket to wrap yourself in. I'm sending you my love and hope and prayers. Please remember me.
Healing would be not feeling so afraid and not running away from things that might not be a danger to me. Healing would be me in a safe, loving, intimate relationship with someone who respects and cares for me. I want intimacy, but I need to know that my partner would stop if I asked them to. I'm in my local Renaissance Faire as part of a historical reenactment group. There are so many genuinely nice people in it, and they make me feel safe. Connecting with people will help me heal.
One morning sometime during Covid, I was at a cafe near my house with my family. My parents both worked at home, so we made a tradition of walking to coffee shops near us and sitting outside of them, drinking coffee and tea and playing cards. It was good to be able to excersize and spend some time outside of the house. That morning, both of my parents stepped into the cafe for some reason or other. I stood outside on the cafe patio, talking with my sister, who is two years younger than me. We were both teens, but I can't remember exctly how old we were. A man walked into the parking lot towards us. His clothes were dirty and he looked like he was homeless. He started walking around us silently. I was too scared to do anything. He grabbed my asscheek and squeezed it. I didn't see, but he did the same thing to my sister. I wish I'd punched that fucking excuse for a human being. I was in shock, so I just stood there, my mind going 'what the bloody hell is happening to me...' It didn't quite feel real. I don't usually cuss so much, but even all the dirty words don't express how angry I was. I was so damned angry for weeks afterward, and I'm still angry thinking and writing about it. That bastard walked away, still silent, as if he hadn't just started putting me through hell. I told my parents a few minutes after they came out of the cafe. Thank God they believed me. The next day we made a report to the police. As far as I know, they never found him. I hate that someone like that is walking free and unpunished. I wanted my first experience with sexual touch to be with someone I loved. I've had other bad experiences with homeless people. There was a homeless person yelling and flailing around (not at me) a month or two ago right after I got off the bus from college. I sort of logically knew the yelling wasn't at me, but I was scared and my instincts took over. I ran like hell. After the assault, the flight reation in situations that might be fight-or-flight got extra sensitive. I feel like a car with an alarm that goes off whenever a big truck goes past. I'm going to therapy at my college. Sometimes I wonder if I'll ever be able to trust anyone enough to have an intimite relationship. Having a long-term romantic relationship is something I want for myself, but I'm afraid that a future partner would touch me when I didn't want them to. Thank you for reading this.
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Grounding activity
Find a comfortable place to sit. Gently close your eyes and take a couple of deep breaths - in through your nose (count to 3), out through your mouth (count of 3). Now open your eyes and look around you. Name the following out loud:
5 – things you can see (you can look within the room and out of the window)
4 – things you can feel (what is in front of you that you can touch?)
3 – things you can hear
2 – things you can smell
1 – thing you like about yourself.
Take a deep breath to end.
Ask yourself the following questions and answer them out loud:
1. Where am I?
2. What day of the week is today?
3. What is today’s date?
4. What is the current month?
5. What is the current year?
6. How old am I?
7. What season is it?
Take a deep breath to end.
From where you are sitting, look around for things that have a texture or are nice or interesting to look at.
Hold an object in your hand and bring your full focus to it. Look at where shadows fall on parts of it or maybe where there are shapes that form within the object. Feel how heavy or light it is in your hand and what the surface texture feels like under your fingers (This can also be done with a pet if you have one).
Take a deep breath to end.
Put your right hand palm down on your left shoulder. Put your left hand palm down on your right shoulder. Choose a sentence that will strengthen you. For example: “I am powerful.” Say the sentence out loud first and pat your right hand on your left shoulder, then your left hand on your right shoulder.
Alternate the patting. Do ten pats altogether, five on each side, each time repeating your sentences aloud.
Take a deep breath to end.
Cross your arms in front of you and draw them towards your chest. With your right hand, hold your left upper arm. With your left hand, hold your right upper arm. Squeeze gently, and pull your arms inwards. Hold the squeeze for a little while, finding the right amount of squeeze for you in this moment. Hold the tension and release. Then squeeze for a little while again and release. Stay like that for a moment.
Take a deep breath to end.