What if I told you that knowing that I was loved helped me save myself in my healing journey? I may not have been able to feel that love, as I’m convinced that my brain was trying to disconnect me from those closest to me, but deep down, I knew that I was loved.
Let Me Introduce Myself
My name is Lauren and I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker at Skyway Behavioral Health. I consider myself a mental health champion, animal lover and an avid crafter.
Working at Skyway has been a life changing experience, as it has been a privilege to work in an environment that fosters deep healing for our clients and nurtures growth and wellness of employees. Working at Skyway has afforded me the opportunity to heal years of burnout, so much so that I am feeling back in my element, which for me means feeling re-energized and for you means, bursting with love to give.
Vulnerability in a Fast-Paced Society
In the hustle and bustle of our society, how often do we tell people that we love them? What motivates us to share or not to share this information with the ones we love? Why is it sometimes hard to be vulnerable to those closest to us – the ones we would do anything for, if they needed it?
I used to hear the words “I love you” a lot from my parents. Those are the final words spoken on phone calls these days; however I recognize that this is not the situation for many, many people. Some people go their whole lives never hearing, but craving those words from those closest to them. It may even lead people to doubt whether or not the people in their lives actually love them. How would you know if you’ve never been told?
Love is Not Binary
I would encourage you to think about love on a spectrum. It’s not as black and white as we like to think – you either love someone/ something or you don’t, right? I’m here to say, it’s not that easy. Sometimes I feel a literal sensation of bursting in my heart center when I look at my cats and I wonder, “How can I have so much love in my heart for them? They are animals!”
Research demonstrates that there are actually different types of love, ranging from passionate love, which is often associated with romantic connections to compassionate love, which is related to deeply bonded connections, or attachment. The point here is that there may be more love in your life than you initially thought, and hopefully this comes as a pleasant surprise.
There are also different languages of love, meaning that people show their love in different ways and different things make different people feel loved. What makes me feel loved may be very different from what makes you feel loved. I strongly encourage you to think about this and have a conversation about your love language with those closest to you.
Spreading the Love
I started the “You are Loved” movement at Skyway Behavioral Health because I want to pay it forward, or share some of the love and compassion that propelled me forward in my own healing journey. To share my love, I’ve created hanging macramé hearts and “You are Loved” stickers to hand out to current clients and staff.
Oftentimes when clients enter our doors they are in their most vulnerable states. They are likely exhausted by their daily struggles and sometimes, it can be really hard to feel any love, whether it comes from internal or external places. I can only hope that my gesture of spreading the love will make a difference in someone’s day, no matter how small that may be.
Recovering from trauma and mental health is hard enough. If I can make it even just one degree less hard by spreading my love, who am I not to?
I see you, I hear you, I feel you and I love you.
