"Tell It!"

I just heard the most amazing sermon tonight at General Assembly! She preached about hope and justice and about the power of telling your own story to other people. The theme this year is TELL IT! As a small but powerfull denomination, we are trying to find our place AND our voice in the world. So, it seems that this year we are going to try and drum up some enthusiasm for telling people about why we love being a Disciple of Christ (no, it is not a cult). Though I DO love being a DOC I won't go into the reasons here (but if you want to know, feel free to email me later!) The reason I want to talk about that sermon is because I have definitely discovered the amazing power of opening yourself up to people and sharing your story with them.

I have found this blog experiment to be the most liberating experience of my life. I think most of you know what it feels like to want people to like you, you know what it feels like to have things you hope no one finds out about. We all have felt the pressures of having a secret you'd be ashamed to tell. For me it was the shame of my eating disorder and it was definitely the shame of that number on the scale. By telling all of you every detail of my life in this way, by telling the world what that awful, terrible, no good number is on my scale, I have released any inappropriate shame into the atmosphere and I am taking responsibility for the things I have done wrong.

The big, giant terrible fear I had when I started all of this was, "oh my gosh, what if someone judges me? What if people think I'm weak or pitiful or pathetic? What if people think less of me?" I know I'm not the only person to have those fears and I won't be the last, but by taking the leap and by telling, literally, everyone what I weigh, what I eat and what I'm going through I have taken back the power from all those fears and I've given myself permission to move on.

Confession truly is cleansing for the soul. And while I don't believe a priest has the power to forgive my sins, I do believe the Catholic practice of confession is extremely hethy and is very healing. Now, I'm not telling you to walk up to strangers and tell them you enjoy wearing underwear on your head while watching the evening news, that might be too much sharing. But Ihave found this "Telling" thing to be a truly powerful and life changing experience and I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to try it to. Trust me, the first confession is the hardest, but it gets much easier from there!

Love you all

Laura