My oh my. I’m not sure where September went. One minute it was here, and the next it was gone. Well for the sake of living up to my challenges, here are some new things I tried to finish up the month.

– I went to a new yoga class.

– Tried a burger and fries place here in Boise that was so delish, I went two days in a row!

– Gave my first in-home music therapy session to a girl who has autism.

– Went to what will be my new church location if my husband and I actually are able to close on this home that we’re in the process of buying. It was so fun to imagine what our lives will be like while sitting in the pew of this church building that I haven’t been in yet, and surrounded by unfamiliar faces. It’s exciting to imagine the possibilities and also a little surreal.

– I went to my first ever Play Therapy conference. I really hope to become a Play Therapist one day. I got to go with my sister to this conference, and we had so much fun.

– I bought my first working record player at this little shop that my sister and I have wanted to check out for a while. I’m so excited to use in the that home I mentioned above.

– I went to my first home inspection. That was interesting.

– I got to sit down with a guy at a mortgage company to discuss the possibility of buying a house- never done that before.

– I found a little quiet spot outside to sit, read and write on. There’s something really healing about grass to me.

– I made a play-date with my nephew.

– I started writing a new song.

– I also learned a lot of things for the first time. While this wasn’t necessarily a physical action, it was just as real and important for me. Below are just a few things I’ve learned in graduate school this month. It’s amazing to me that I’ve learned as much as I have in only a matter of a few weeks. To name just a few of these things, I’ve learned that…

1. Feeling is actually a victory. Not the other way around. (That goes with all feelings. Yes, all feelings.)
2. Feeling feelings in the moment as much as possible is healing and allows for release of that emotion after it has been felt and acknowledged.
3. When expressing thoughts and feelings, don’t forget to use, “I think,” “I feel” and “I experience” instead of making general statements such as “You sometimes feel…” I honestly never realized how often I do this until it was pointed out to me in one of my classes at school. It’s amazing how empowering it is to express feelings/thoughts and experiences that way. It puts ownership on them.
4. Self-care is key. Intentional, conscious acts to take care of oneself is vitally important.

So there you have it. September for me was full, and I mean so FULL of new things for me. It was enlivening…It was enriching…And it was quite overwhelming at times. Goodbye September of 2014. You were wonderful.

Xo,

Bianca