Intro to the New Church Doctrines Journal #6
CONTENT WARNING #1: The religious/spiritual opinions on this blog post are mine based on my own experiences and do not reflect the opinions and experiences of everyone. Commentaries published on my First Former Buddy Club President influencer page represent diverse viewpoints. If you would like to submit a commentary, please contact me for more information. All perspectives and experiences are welcome here.
CONTENT WARNING #2: Also, I would like to mention that I am not a therapist and am sharing this content for educational purposes only. If you suspect that you need any professional help for your mental health, it is okay to get help and I highly recommend seeking help from a therapist or other mental health professional who is qualified to do so. In addition, keep in mind that everyone has mental health and no one experiences their mental health journey the same. Every mental health/healing journey is different and what may help others may or may not help everyone. You never know what anyone is going through as everyone has some type of struggles you know nothing about and not all mental health struggles and traumas are experienced the same, visible, or disclosed. So always be kind. All are welcome here.
In my first trimester at Bryn Athyn College, I was required to take a religion course along with eventually some other religion courses since it is a religious school. Bryn Athyn practices the New Church religion of Swedenborg so the required religion course that I took this trimester was Intro to the New Church Doctrines. For the class, one of the required assignments was to write daily journals based on readings from "You Can Believe!: An Introduction to the New Christianity" written by Grant Schnarr (The author was actually my professor for the class! He is a minister in the church!) and we students had to apply what we read to our lives. So, since some of the content mentioned in this short essay that I wrote is related to the content that I post on my disability advocacy influencer page, I have decided to upload it is a blog post. Here is Journal #6.
TRIGGER WARNING: In addition, if you are affected by bullying and/or suicidal thoughts, this blog post may be triggering. If you need support right now, please seek help from a therapist or other mental health professional or call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or text "HOME" to the Crisis Text Line at 741741 if you live in the USA or text "CONNECT" to the Crisis Text Line at 686868 if you live in Canada.
Prompt: "Read 'You Can Believe! Chapter 3 - How Can I Grow? Show me you read, thought deeply about what you read, and apply it to your life."
I have been through a lot of positive, negative, and neutral things in my life. Recently, I have become passionate about exploring my healing journey from trauma. Trauma can be any negative event that causes strong emotional distress. Along my healing journey, I do a variety of self-care techniques for the purpose of bettering my mental health. I utilize any of these self-care techniques whenever I am experiencing bad flashbacks and during hard times as positive distractions and self-esteem boosters.
In regards to how I practice spiritual growth, I try to maintain a growth mindset as much as possible and utilize adult coloring, affirmations, self-help books, and mindfulness meditation. A growth mindset is the act of changing small parts of language used to promote a sense of hope and decrease fixed mindsets. For example, if I am struggling with a certain academic subject, I may tell myself something such as "I really struggle with math, and I can do hard things." I read at least one positive quote a day and think about how it relates to me along with thinking self-affirmations such as "I am strong", "I am brave", and "I am capable." I was also with the wrong people when I experienced these negativities. Shortly after the end of one of my traumas, I met some kind people whose light and positivity really changed my life for the better. There were also certain thoughts that I used to have, and they changed due to improvement by using these uplifting mindsets. I also identify as a survivor even though my traumas were not near-death experiences. This is because the suicide rate from bullying is high and even though my stress level did not worsen to this point, suicidal thoughts from any difficult life events could happen to anyone. So, therefore, I am a survivor. In addition, a survivor can also be people who handle stress effectively through hard times. I also identify as a warrior because of my strength.
Related Links:
- How to Talk to Someone with Suicidal Thoughts
- 100 Reasons to Stay Alive
- The Importance of Showing Respect for Other People While Advocating for Your Own Respect
In You Can Believe! written by Grant Schnarr, the following is stated: "Spiritual growth is a process" (pg. 25, Schnarr 2006). This is definitely true because healing takes time. My healing journey is lifelong because I will continue growing, but I will never be the same again because what happened will always stay with me. We people who have experienced trauma also typically do not move on; we move forward meaning that we do not let what happened control our lives completely. Lastly, every healing journey is different so what may help others may or may not help everyone who is healing. People should still be encouraged to try whatever they can to improve.
1. Schnarr, Grant. You Can Believe!: An Introduction to the New Christianity. 2006.
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