Discovering life through Pain is Self-Love.
The drawing is a self-portrait in my early 20s, 1982, a fragmented and emotionally torn soul.
Fast forward to Now: There has never been a time in my life when I have felt more emotionally whole. My life is far from perfect, and expectations for that will never be a concept.
However, I consciously desire to pursue joy and happiness as a way of life. Considering myself fortunate, being lucky, blessed, and currently excited for each moment has taken some doing.
I was asked recently by a member of Medium, Do I write about my pain?
When I was considering this writing, my desire was not to discuss the pain. Rather how the process evolved so perhaps it might help another, so here goes.
Going to one place emotionally typically happens after going through another.
Confronting my pain is how I have broken most of my negative cycles. Pain became my most outstanding teacher.
My mindset since youth was this.
The things that were said to me or done, and most external events, became how I perceived my self-worth. Ideas I had formulated in my mind as a judgment of others became the basis of self-judgment.
My self-judgment was extraordinarily harsh and not an honest assessment. My…
