Honor Your Addictions
The day we were told to color inside the lines, cut on the line, and stand in the line is the same day our child, named Freedom, was lied to, and told her brilliance was bad, and birthing it became something less than a birth right. This is the same day our seemingly loving and safe home became unlocked with insecurity. When I say home, I mean the walking, talking, breathing, feeling, entity of me, housed in my physical body. So now, what I am, is wrong, and to be right, I must color the sky blue for my teacher, memorize all the math facts for my dad, wear a pretty dress and saddle shoes for my mom, and do the perfect pirouette for my grandma. With all of these people to please, and perfect, and curate myself for, when do I get to jam out to what brings me joy? When am I encouraged to DISCOVER that red and blue make purple instead of being TOLD that red and blue make purple?
Exploration, curiosity, and discovery are the required relationships that need to be encouraged, forged, and fostered into an unconditional friendship with ourself. Then, on the playground of our ‘being,’ we get to play, make up new games, learn how to win and lose, go to town with the side walk chalk, hop all the scotches, and get ourselves sick on the merry go round. On this playground, we are free to challenge our bliss and to understand its’ boundaries, so that it can blossom into the joy of experiencing our blessings. We are free to see-saw from, too much, to, not enough, so that balance can be acquired and attained. Honoring this balance becomes, “no big thang,” because the process to unearth it, was freed, to be processed and experienced, without fear, judgement, or reprimand by the playground police. When we allow authoritative influences to choose our destination, define our success, or tell us the sky is most definitely blue, when we clearly see it as bubble gum pink, we allow our passions to become polluted, and polluted passion, is the mask of addiction.
Addiction is masking a pleasure, gone rogue. When this now, toxic, impure, passion, hiding in a shame mask in the corner, decides to come out and play, all havoc breaks loose. He or she is the bully who spoils all the fun, hoses the chalk from the sidewalk, trips us up on purpose, and picks apart our dodge ball skills.
Address your addictions like you would a child and explore where there was a band-aid slapped on your knee without ever actually cleaning the wound. Air it out, because every single one of us has skinned knees. Care for it like you would any other wound and trust that one day telling the story of that scar on your knee will be a battle wound you are proud to have overcome. Trust “that story,” will give permission to all of those around you to take off their masks and their band-aids, so that we can finally, proudly, take pleasure in our bona fide pleasures, and then together, we can share the sacred smiles of our souls, singing in synchronicity, to the beat of our very own laughter.
It is one of my great pleasures to have the opportunity to share my passions with you. I feel so very grateful that you are choosing to receive my words and perspective as something worthy of your precious moments.
Offering my hearts’ blessings to yours,
Andrea Dawn
