Recovery Thoughts and Questions

[MajestyJo]

Space to explore

"No one can find his work, what he really wants to put all of himself into, when everything he does he is made to do by others. This kind of searching must be done freely or not at all."

-- John Holt

We all need space -- free from demands, deadlines, expectations and judgments -- to explore who we are and what life is all about. Free time, with absolutely no agenda, is rich with potential. How can we grow if we have no space and freedom to dream?

"Deny children -- or anyone else -- the chance to do ‘nothing,’ and we may be denying them the chance to do ‘something’ -- to find and do any work that is truly important to themselves or to someone else."

-- John Holt

It talks about giving others space to do what they need to do and I realized that being a single parent, I am not sure I gave my son that. In later years when he was using, but when he was growing up, I thought I had to be mother and father and I think I was too protective and didn't allow him to do enough things on his own.

I thought was was teaching him life skills and yet looking back, didn't have a lot of knowledge of my own to pass on. All I knew how to pass on to him was how to act when you are using or how you allow others to abuse you and take over your space.

It is also important for me to make my own space in today. To have that safe place for me in which I can go to and take that inward journey. Even when there were others around, I need to have my chair and my table with my things that I needed for me. i.e. A candle, my books (mystery and meditation), my angel, animal, and nature cards, and my crystals.

My space, by invitation only please. Which reminds me that it works both ways.