THE LOTUS COLLABORATIVE RECOVERY CENTERS OF SANTA CRUZ & SAN FRANCISCO
  • Home
    • Current Client: ED Recovery
    • Current Client: Mood & Trauma
    • Client Portal
  • Free Support
    • Online Eating Disorder Recovery Support Group
  • About TLC
    • Levels of Care at TLC
    • Treatment at TLC >
      • Testimonials
      • Treatment Philosophy
      • Your Treatment Team
      • Group Therapy
      • Santa Cruz Location: Photo Tour
      • San Francisco Location: Photo Tour
    • FAQ
    • What Makes TLC Unique?
  • Our Services
    • Mood & Trauma Treatment Services
    • Eating Disorder Recovery Services
    • Outpatient Services
  • Start Recovery
    • Admission Application
  • Contact Us
    • Online Booking
    • Referring Clients
    • Job Openings
  • Resources
    • Recovery Resources
    • Talks, Events, Workshops
    • Recovery Blog
    • Videos

Your authentic YOU. 

12/5/2013

0 Comments

 
"I must learn to love the fool in me - the one who feels too much, talks too much, takes too many chances, wins sometimes and loses often, lacks self-control, loves and hates, hurts and gets hurt, promises and breaks promises, laughs and cries. It alone protects me against that utterly self-controlled, masterful tyrant whom I also harbor and who would rob me of human aliveness, humility, and dignity but for my fool." - Theodore I. Ruben, MD

This is one of my favorite quotes in the whole world. It's hung on the wall above my desk and I read it whenever my inner-critic gets too loud. It reminds me of who I am, where I've come from, what I'm on this earth to do and why it's so important to live authentically. I have been staring at this quote for the past few minutes, ruminating on my journey towards self-acceptance and all of the women that I know who struggle so much with this. So many women place more value on the "masterful tyrant" than on the glorious mess that makes us human. I have certainly spent a large portion of my life living within this paradigm. And we place our value there for good reason: most of us have been told from an early age that the ideal woman is anything but messy. She is in fact the opposite: self-contained, rational, put-together, not too much of anything, but enough of everything. Many of us spend every waking moment trying to be more like this ideal and less like the imperfect, sentient beings that we are. But this comes at a great cost. As we deny ourselves our most authentic nature, our deepest and most dynamic parts, we begin to "rob" ourselves of "human aliveness"as this quote so eloquently suggests. We become depressed, aimless, or driven and disconnected. We have to move faster and do more in order to avoid the growing feeling of emptiness and fit into the expectations of a male dominated world. And for what? Ultimately, for love I think. Love and acceptance. Isn't that what we're all striving for? But the longer we deny ourselves and the world our authentic nature - whatever unique form that may take, the further from love and acceptance we get. In my experience, it's near impossible to love or be loved from an inauthentic place - it just leads back to more emptiness. So my hope for all of us, women and men alike is that we begin to recognize this value system based on denial of the essential self; That we challenge the belief that to be loved means to extricate the most alive parts of us and that we embrace the "fool" who knows that the messy-ness in each of us is the most spectacular part of being human. 

http://realbeautysketches.dove.us/
Here at Lotus, we celebrate the belief that we are more than our bodies, faces and features, but as this video demonstrates, learning to recognize and embrace our external beauty can be a step towards freeing all parts of ourselves. 
-Lauren Reppy, MFTi 74501

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    The
    Lotus
    Collaborative

    This section features our latest news, insights by clients and staff, beautiful pictures, quotes, and anything else to inspire you along your journey.

    Archives

    December 2022
    June 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    January 2018
    November 2017
    February 2017
    October 2016
    March 2016
    November 2015
    September 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    February 2013
    April 2012

    Categories

    All
    Body Image
    Body Neutrality
    Boundaries
    Gender Dysphoria
    News

    RSS Feed

ACCESSIBILITY  STATMENT
603  Mission Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95060     
611 Mission Street, Santa Cruz, CA  95060
 2500 Market Street, San Francisco, CA 94114
855-852-4968 ​
  • Home
    • Current Client: ED Recovery
    • Current Client: Mood & Trauma
    • Client Portal
  • Free Support
    • Online Eating Disorder Recovery Support Group
  • About TLC
    • Levels of Care at TLC
    • Treatment at TLC >
      • Testimonials
      • Treatment Philosophy
      • Your Treatment Team
      • Group Therapy
      • Santa Cruz Location: Photo Tour
      • San Francisco Location: Photo Tour
    • FAQ
    • What Makes TLC Unique?
  • Our Services
    • Mood & Trauma Treatment Services
    • Eating Disorder Recovery Services
    • Outpatient Services
  • Start Recovery
    • Admission Application
  • Contact Us
    • Online Booking
    • Referring Clients
    • Job Openings
  • Resources
    • Recovery Resources
    • Talks, Events, Workshops
    • Recovery Blog
    • Videos