Treasures in the Tearing
By: Susan Deborah Schiller
“What would happen if one woman told the truth about her life? The world would split open.” — Terrence Tempest Williams
Some days it's just too hard to write another word. Do you, too, know this struggle? That's when I pull out Leigha's words and say them to myself:
Maybe it’s time for another permission slip to myself. To speak the truth and let the world split open. To stop hanging paintings over the holes in the plaster. To strip away fanciful writing. To stop hiding behind metaphors. To recognize the power in the naming. This doesn’t have to be beautiful. It just has to be true. It’s not my job to find the redemption. I don’t have to wait for the renewal or create the restoration. Just expose the brokenness and let God do the rest. — Leigha Cann
There are treasures in the tearing, lovely things buried in the very place that presently holds the pain. Perhaps the pain is your internal guidance system to find this pearl of great price. Don't be afraid to dig, to get dirty, to discover what lies below the surface.
Some memories reveal huge gaps in your soul, rips and tear, gashes, bullet holes, and grenade blasts… the pain might knock you off kilter. It leaves you breathless. There were times when I could barely breathe, let alone talk.
You don't have to write publicly. You don't have to write at all. For me, it has helped the most, though. Some stories are only for us, to help us find the treasure… even though it's buried beneath so many ugly, filthy layers of abuse. Other stories are for our closest friends. And other stories are meant to be shared with the world.
Will you write one sentence, one paragraph, one page of your life story? I will commit to you, right here and right now, to finish one page today.
Let me know how you are doing!
And here is my one page story, if you'd like to read "Arctic Isolation". 🙂
My Full Story What I Believe Contact Me
With all my love,
Sue
Susan Schiller knows how it feels to lose everything: marriage and family, church and reputation, finances and businesses, and more. Susan's upcoming, interactive memoir, "On the Way Home," tells the story of how she came to be known as "the most abused woman" her counselors had yet met and how she learned to navigate to freedom and fullness.
Today Susan helps people write their life stories, unearthing the treasures of their past and sowing them into their future, creating new family legacies.
Copyright © 2010 to 2015 Team Family Online, All rights reserved. For reprint permission or for any private or commercial use, in any form of media, please contact Susan Schiller.
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Very beautiful post! Sometimes, we all have to do a little digging to find out what lays under the surface. Thank you for sharing such inspiration!
Thanks, Sheila 🙂