comfort in the familiar

July 14, 2013Karen Courcy

imagesSometimes you need to step back into the familiar to step forward into the unfamiliar. Sometimes you need to find comfort in the old things to have confidence stepping into new things.

My blog theme is back to the one I had when I first started this blog 3 years ago, and I love its simplicity, style and grace. It makes me feel connected back to why I fell in love with writing on this blog and connecting with others.

When I changed the address and the name of my blog last week to “Finding The Grace Within” I was happy but something was missing and it felt empty and sad.

I found myself not wanting to write new blog posts since I moved it, and that made me sad. I even found myself not wanting to share my blog posts in therapy.

Tonight as I sat with it longer I realized what it was, I missed the old simplicity of my old blog from the very beginning and how much it made it feel like home to me – so I put up the old theme and I love it and I feel back at home in this comfort.

I think sometimes when we make so many changes and movements forward, we tend to feel a little lost in the newness, and for me that was found in my blog this weekend. I made a new name, a new address but something was missing, and that was comfort.

So I no longer have the neat photo animation that my other blog had, and it doesn’t have all the gadgets of cool graphics, but its simple and it reminds me of what the blog used to be for me when I felt safe and loved to write before last year happened.

AS I was setting the older look back up I felt a comfort, safety, grace and connection to it. it reminds me of where I am in healing right now, and maybe a part of healing is found in leaning back into the things that make us comfortable while still moving forward.

It’s been a long time since I have enjoyed writing in my blog again, and changing the look was just what I needed this weekend. it reminds me of how it used to be and where I began in using my voice to heal, and it also reminds me of the movements I am making forward as well.

Me and my therapist talked about this very thing in therapy Friday. We talked about how sometimes when we get so clustered in working on something hard, we tend to lose sight of the very things that were so great in the hard work and how much that defined what our work is together.

We both talked about how we should bring some of that old familiar back into the therapy room, and how that would help by leaning back on the old and move forward in the new.

I work so hard in therapy and in my everyday life that sometimes its nice to lean on the familiar. it just centers me sometimes and reminds me of where I was, where I am, and where I want to be.

Almost like an old comfortable blanket you love – it feels like the same thing.

I am sure for some of you this theme of the blog will look very familiar, and to some it will be new, but either way I hope you all like it’s simplicity and grace.

I look forward to writing again, it’s been a long time since I have been able to say that.

2 Comments

  • Gel

    July 14, 2013 at 10:23 AM

    Hi Karen,
    It’s nice to see the new (to me) format.
    I can relate to the idea of leaning into comfort as part of the bigger process of healing and moving forward. I think some of our growth and healing happens in the deep restorative rest and relaxation….in the not pushing times. Because our growth doesn’t only happen when we exert our will and our hard work. Part of the growth is not in our control. So what might appear to be non-progress types of activities like rest play, distractions, the comfort of the old and familiar…these can all be some of the best times for deep integration. I like to think of it as a pulsing rhythm of pushing forward alternating with letting go and resting, then pushing forward again and so forth.

    By the way, I love that quote: ” I will hold myself to a standard of grace not perfection”. I’ve come to see perfection as being in God’s realm not mine. However it is maybe a guide-star to see perfection ideals as God’s light of which direction to point ourselves, not as something we are suppose to achieve. Something like that.

    1. KarenBeth

      July 14, 2013 at 1:30 PM

      Hi Gel and Thank you .. I love that Grace quote too, it’s one of my favorites. I am glad you like the new blog look (or old) ..

      So far it feels right .. kinda weird because I feel like I am going backwards, but something about it feels right 🙂

      Thank you for your comment

Please take a moment to comment! I love connecting with others!

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