Tommorrow's Post Today...Daytrip! by Susan

It was another first today. I learned how to silk screen an image onto fabric. A cartoon rooster crowing "COFFEE!" At the top of his lungs now graces a baggy, gold T-shirt to sleep in. The process was very interesting. Most of the process is in carefully cutting the image out of clear acetate. Small pieces are kept to block the ink from going through the silk. It was challenging especially before we turned off the ceiling fan! This project got me thinking about how far I've come over the last five years,since I was hospitalized the first time following a complete breakdown. It got me thinking how piece by piece I've attained a level of wellness that even a year ago I wouldn't have thought possible. There are lots of pieces involved. Finding the right medication was the hardest. They aren't the whole answer but it helps an awful lot. Good friends, peer support, a good psychiatrist, and an awesome therapist have all had a hand in me getting to this amazing place. They weathered the storms as the traumas and abuse of my past were slowly cut away.The things worth keeping have been saved in my heart. Thank God for all the supports He placed on my path. Anxiety is still a part of my life, part of living with Post Traumatic Stress. It might always be, I don't know. I get overwhelmed easily, too. It's much better than it used to be when I would get paralyzed in the cereal aisle at the grocery store trying to decide "Cheerio's or Corn Flakes" as the tears came bubbling up. I still focus on small pieces, one at a time but what I love the most is when God finally shows me the big picture all the little bits have made. Maybe this IS something to crow about myself? "Look what God can dooo-oo!" "Let Your loving kindness and Your truth continuously preserve me." Ps 40:11