Time to blow the dust off the blog again….

 

I’ve actually written quite a lot over the past couple of years, working on my Master’s program and for work itself.  But I haven’t fed the blog!

 

Here’s something to chew on.

 

If you're keeping count, I’ve now renamed my blog for the third time.  “I Am Who I Am” was good for the moment in which it arose but it quickly went stale.  I think it was because it felt too ME-centric.  I put an added pressure on myself to ensure that anything I posted was !AWESOME!, but nothing seemed to meet the standard.  This was frustrating because this writing format has afforded me the chance to ‘get things off my chest’ and (much to my surprise) offered something that others wanted to read.

 

The new title (and inspiration to write) came from an encounter with Mr. Tim Gordon.  Tim is a social worker and therapeutic counsellor.  I had the opportunity to get to know Tim at a Chaplain Exercise in Arnprior just last week.  Tim’s role at the Exercise was to train participants in how to use “Life-Mapping” as a tool for increasing awareness of one’s values, challenges, reactions, and hopefully learn ways to live one’s life ‘toward’ those values.  You can learn more about Tim and his approach here: https://www.thezensocialworker.ca/

 

Though I had professional reasons for taking part in this Exercise, I also had a very powerful personal reason…

 

Diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder in 1991, I have gone through a number of different therapies, the two longest being Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and Mindfulness (Insight Meditation).  A couple of years ago I went through a rough patch that even my CBT wasn’t helping me with.  In fact, my CBT was the source of my anger, frustration, and fatigue.  Enter Dr. Sam Morgan ( http://www.samuelmorgan.ca/index.html ).  Sam introduced me to Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT).  Here’s an official definition I found online:

 

“Developed within a coherent theoretical and philosophical framework, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is a unique empirically based psychological intervention that uses acceptance and mindfulness strategies, together with commitment and behavior change strategies, to increase psychological flexibility.”

 

Wow!  That sounds impressive!

 

Honestly, it’s not that complicated.  At the heart of ACT is ACCEPTING the good, bad, and ugly in one’s life (both internal and external) and then COMMITTING to live in a manner that moves one towards one’s values and goals.  It’s not complicated, but it takes practice because we naturally get entangled in our reactions and our thoughts about our reactions, often to the point where there is no energy left to actually live life.

 

ACT was the therapy that ended my ‘struggle’ with anxiety.  Up until ACT I had spent huge amounts of energy in either trying to get rid of my anxiety or worrying about why I was unable to get rid of my anxiety.  Through I ACT I have come to accept that anxiety is a part of my life, but it doesn’t need to stand in the way of living life on my own terms.  Since being introduced to ACT I stopped ‘struggling’ with anxiety and starting ‘living’ with it, even to the point of having compassion on my anxious feelings.

 

I have never been healthier than I have been since encountering ACT.

 

Thank-you, Sam!

 

So what does that have to do with Tim….or “Noticing,” my new blog moniker?

 

Well, “Life-Mapping” is actually based on ACT.  It is an ACT tool.  The chance to meet Tim, an ACT-based therapist was exciting, but more than that, he was actually doing something I had thought about a number of times since starting ACT.  Specifically, instead of just using the ACT approach as a form of therapy for those diagnosed with different disorders or syndromes, I felt that the overall approach could be used by anyone to do a “Life-Check.”  “Life-Mapping” is that tool.  While it has a therapeutic role, it can be used by anyone as a way to gain what is called “psychological flexibility.”  And what word does Tim often use for psychological flexibility?  “Noticing.”

 

Noticing is being aware of the briefest of moments between a negative thought or experience and our natural reactions.  Practicing noticing leads to that moment becoming longer and longer until one is able to step into the moment and choose to respond in a different manner, in a manner that moves one towards one’s values and goals.  Noticing is the first step in learning to live a life one chooses to live.  It is freeing, it is freedom.

 

Thank-you, Tim!