“….I assumed things would just fall into place for me. I assumed I would not have to really do the work and everything would just pan out on it’s own. I think at the time I made myself feel better by referring to it as faith, but I have since learned faith requires work too. To assume only faith without work or contrarily, work without faith, would be like trying to balance on one leg all of the time. If you can stand on both legs, you are able to continue to walk your path and get there in a timely manner, without feeling completely depleted. I had to do the work to get to where I wanted to be, but it was unfamiliar, uncomfortable, and I had to allow myself to be vulnerable.”
When I feel like my thoughts can’t settle onto a page, reading things I’ve written before reminds me of the words of which I am most familiar. I stumbled across this piece of a larger assignment, which I finalized and turned in several days after the infamous covid-19 lockdown commenced. Reflection? Or projection? Maybe a little bit of both.
As a society, we’re attracted to this avenue of reflection within our social media accounts; TimeHop, Memories, On this Day. The internet has given us an opportunity to reflect all the time. To look into your past and recognize patterns or themes through our own words, illustrated throughout our posts and pictures. But is it the real version? Or our romanticized version of that reality?
We enjoy revisiting our past when it comes to our highlight reel. Those are the moments we have showcased, a digital footprint of our memory. But what about the memories classified as NSFW? The ones that hurt. The ones that feel like you’re drowning. What do we do with those?
That’s where I step in. Hi, I’m Kaitlynn. I’m a teen mom turned therapist and I walk alongside people on their journey towards peace for a living. Vulnerability is my jam. Most people think I talk for a living, but to be honest with you, I spend most of that time listening. Reflecting on my experiences creates a lot of chatter in my head and I intend to use this space to sort some of that out. This isn’t going to be another highlight reel; it will be honest, transparent and raw. I’ve found an extraordinary amount of peace by removing the mask (pun intended) and meeting people where they are, as they are, and who I am.
Thanks for being here.