{"id":7146,"date":"2016-12-15T08:13:01","date_gmt":"2016-12-15T14:13:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.handsfreemama.com\/?p=7146"},"modified":"2016-12-15T08:13:01","modified_gmt":"2016-12-15T14:13:01","slug":"broken-dish-confessions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.handsfreemama.com\/2016\/12\/15\/broken-dish-confessions\/","title":{"rendered":"Broken Dish Confessions"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"dsc_0908\"<\/a> \u201cI see the sun and it's rising slowly<\/em>
\nFor every shadow there's a light<\/em>
\nOpen your eyes, I'll come running<\/em>
\nOpen up to me, open up to me.\u201d<\/em>
\n\u2013Green River Ordinance, Resting Hour<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

One by one, they came through the book signing line confessing their own broken dish moments.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a plate.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a bowl \u2013 robin\u2019s egg blue \u2026 I always loved that bowl.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was my grandmother\u2019s serving tray; I don\u2019t know why I grabbed that one.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMine was a crystal vase. The cleanup took hours.\u201d<\/p>\n

One by one, people confessed their broken dish moments. When I spoke of mine on stage a few minutes earlier I had no idea it would inspire others to step forward and say, \u201cMe too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Perhaps we all have broken dish moments in some form or another. Perhaps I am not alone.<\/p>\n

The last dish I broke was nineteen months ago. Before that one, it was a coffee pot \u2026 and before that, it was a cereal bowl. Before that, it was an object I can\u2019t recall, but its pieces were especially jagged and sharp. All this time, I attributed these extreme reactions on a severe lack of self-care and on pushing myself beyond reasonable limits. But while huddled in a car with a dear friend on the way to see an Ingrid Michaelson<\/a> concert, I uncovered something more.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt happens when I am not being heard \u2026 when I am misunderstood,\u201d I said about my broken dish moments. \u201cI get to this dangerously helpless point when my need to be heard is so strong that I feel I must take drastic measures.\u201d<\/p>\n

See me.<\/em><\/p>\n

Hear me.<\/em><\/p>\n

This is me sending up a flare. I am in distress.<\/em><\/p>\n

I thought back to the broken dish moments shared by those who came through the book signing line. As people confessed their breaking points and collateral damage, there was one common factor \u2026 there was a resounding echo \u2026 there was a universal need.<\/p>\n

Hear me.<\/em><\/p>\n

Acknowledge me. <\/em><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t walk away. <\/em><\/p>\n

Yes, they were weary and depleted when they fell apart at the seams \u2026 but more importantly, they were desperate to be heard.<\/p>\n

Exactly three days after that revelation with my friend in the car, my husband and I were watching the nightly news. It transpired into a heated political discussion. I was very passionate about my beliefs, and my voice became raised, and I felt my face become flushed. Although there were plenty of doors to slam, papers to throw, and dishes to break, I didn\u2019t resort to extremes as I did in the past.<\/p>\n

Why?<\/p>\n

Because he heard me.<\/p>\n

He was listening.<\/p>\n

We did not see eye to eye on this particular issue, but he held me, and I let myself be held.<\/p>\n

\"lifeline<\/a><\/p>\n

Suddenly every broken dish moment, beginning at age ten, came back to me in full force.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d flung myself to the ground kicking and screaming when I was not being heard.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d peeled out of a parking lot and sped 80 mph when I was not being heard.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d hit my fist with a steering wheel until it bruised when I was not being heard.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d thought about hurting myself when I was not being heard.<\/p>\n

Drastic measures indeed.<\/em><\/p>\n

But the truth is, out of all the things that make me feel most loved, listening is number one. When I am heard, I am loved.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I am quite certain I am not the only one who feels this way.<\/p>\n

Over the past month, I have processed this realization about my breaking dish moments. I have paid close attention to the way my spouse and I communicate. Somewhere along the line, I told him that when my father listened to me he always looked into my eyes. Eye contact mean listening fully and attending undividedly. I notice my husband is trying.<\/p>\n

Somewhere along the line, I told him that when my voice gets higher and he begins to walk away, it feels like a dagger. Walking away while I am speaking feels like a punch in the gut. I notice my husband is trying.<\/p>\n

Somewhere along the line, I told him he doesn\u2019t have to solve my problem or know what to do. Just nodding, relating, and saying, \u201cHow can I help?\u201d are transformative. I notice my husband is trying.<\/p>\n

As I have come to understand this inherent need to be heard in my moments of vulnerability, I am seeing others\u2019 extreme reactions in a new light–particularly those who want me to hear them most.<\/p>\n

My younger daughter complained of a pain in her leg for a solid week. A physical therapist found her calf muscle to be very tight. After determining\u00a0it was a shin splint, the therapist showed us some exercises we could do at home. My daughter did not participate in running during swim team conditioning for two weeks while her leg healed.<\/p>\n

When I informed my daughter it was time to resume the running portion of practice, her reaction was over the top. Her voice rose and shook. Hot tears came streaming down her face. As I was about to stand firm on this issue, I stopped myself. I saw what was happening there.<\/p>\n

This is her dish-breaking moment.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em>This is her wanting me to hear her. <\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em>This is her asking me to stand in her shoes. \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cOkay,\u201d I said calmly. \u201cIt appears you are still feeling pain. We\u2019ll give it another day.\u201d<\/p>\n

The color came back to her face. She quickly regained composure, as if embarrassed by her extreme reaction. (Boy, did I know the feeling.)<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you, Mama. Thank you,\u201d she said hugging me. Two days later, my child began running again, being careful not to overdo it.<\/p>\n

My daughter still asks me to \u201croll\u201d her leg in the evening as the therapist instructed. As I do, I think about what the therapist said as she demonstrated the technique. \u201cUpward strokes brings the inflammation to a place where it can be flushed from the body.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"dsc_0878-2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I think that's what listening does.<\/em><\/p>\n

Unlike dismissing, shaming, or shutting down, which exacerbates the pain, listening eases it \u2026 releases it \u2026 comforts it \u2026 and even heals it.<\/p>\n

Although it is mid-December and there are definitely easier and more festive topics I could have written about today, I believe this one \u2013 listening to release pain \u2013 is what we need most need right now in the world.<\/p>\n

In fact, there\u2019s a good chance that in coming days you\u2019ll see someone losing her grip \u2026 dissolving into a pile tears \u2026 resorting to drastic measures to be heard.<\/p>\n

When you see this happening, please fight the urge to walk away. Please resist the inclination to shut it down, hush it up, or stop\u00a0it with shame or hostility.<\/p>\n

Instead get closer and say, \u201cI am here. Tell me what\u2019s troubling you. Maybe you don\u2019t even know, but we will figure it out together. I am listening.\u201d<\/p>\n

And if you find the distressed, unreasonable, and maniacal voice is coming from your own chest, please resist the urge to grab the closest object and hurl it. Instead, hold your own hand and say to yourself: This is me in distress. This is me sending up a flare. Let me muster all my strength to ask someone to hear me. This is important.<\/em><\/p>\n

Imagine for a moment if this year were to close on a listening note\u2014us listening to ourselves \u2026 us listening to the ones we love \u2026 us listening to the ones who cross our path. To end 2016 knowing the exercise of listening is a remedy for pain could make for a beautiful start to 2017.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s not worry so much about purchasing that mind-blowing gift or finding that perfect outfit for the party or retrieving that long-lost recipe during the final days of December. Instead, let's remember listening is love.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Especially when the person in front of us or within us is falling apart.<\/p>\n

There may be less gifts to open as a result of us spending the remaining days of December focused on listening\u2014but perhaps if we do, there won't\u00a0be so many broken pieces to pick up.<\/p>\n

Listen with open eyes, attentive ears, and a whole heart.<\/p>\n

Listen even when it sounds like complete and utter despair.<\/p>\n

Because that\u2019s when listening is needed the most.<\/p>\n

Listen.<\/em><\/p>\n

As another year ends, let healing begin.<\/p>\n

\"all<\/a><\/p>\n

***************************************
\nDear friends of The Hands Free Revolution<\/a>, thank you for allowing me to share my painful truths and for sharing yours with me. There is so much growth and healing in the words, \u201cMe too.\u201d If you live in Florida, Iowa, or South Carolina, please see my speaking event schedule<\/a> and come as you are to be\u00a0my family when I am there in February, April, and August. (I will also be coming to Canada for my ONLY LOVE TODAY<\/a> book tour in March\u2014details coming soon.) Because of your support of my two books, HANDS FREE MAMA<\/a> and HANDS FREE LIFE<\/a>, my publisher allowed me to write the daily inspiration book so many of you have been asking for \u2013 ONLY LOVE TODAY: Reminders to Breathe More, Stress Less, and Choose Love<\/a>. I will be sharing much more about this labor of love in the new year. I have never been so excited about anything I have ever written. ONLY LOVE TODAY releases on March 7 and can be pre-ordered now here<\/a>. There is still time to order a wearable or hangable reminder\u00a0inscribed with\u00a0a\u00a0healing mantra or inspiring manifesto like GET OFF THE SCALE<\/a>\u00a0or The Hands Free Pledge<\/a>. As you can see in the above photos, I wear my ONLY LOVE TODAY<\/a> and COME AS YOU ARE<\/a> cuffs daily to focus my words and actions in a positive direction. Click here<\/a> to see all the beautiful items in the Hands Free Shop.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Dear ones, I\u00a0look forward to continuing this life-changing journey with you in 2017. Wishing you all a blessed and restorative holiday. I cherish you.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

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\u201cI see the sun and it’s rising slowly For every shadow there’s a light Open your eyes, I’ll come running Open up to me, open up to me.\u201d \u2013Green River Ordinance, Resting Hour One by one, they came through the book signing line confessing their own broken dish moments. \u201cIt was a plate.\u201d \u201cIt was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":7149,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[1299,562,1559,1232,1274,212,1067,1364,822,1427,1218],"gutentor_comment":39,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.handsfreemama.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/DSC_0908-e1481768970454.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1fUJF-1Rg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.handsfreemama.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7146"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.handsfreemama.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.handsfreemama.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.handsfreemama.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.handsfreemama.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7146"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.handsfreemama.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7146\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.handsfreemama.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7149"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.handsfreemama.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7146"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.handsfreemama.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7146"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.handsfreemama.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7146"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}