Hello!
Sometimes I don’t understand how quickly time passes. I realize that’s probably a funny thing to say to folks who have Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), with time distortion, amnesia, inside people of all ages, insiders from all different times of your life, who experience life in many layers of time all at the same time …. ! But you know, for ME, it’s back around to the beginning of yet another year. How boring/exciting is that?!
So yes, for me — and also for you — it’s a NEW year.
And Happy New Year to you! 😀
Did you make any New Years wishes? Or New Year’s resolutions? What about New Year’s plans?
Did you have a fun night? Did you do anything to celebrate?
Did you tuck away and hide quietly inside?
I did my usual adventure to see New Year’s Eve fireworks. However, this year, I had my two dogs with me, and we weren’t able to get up close and personal to all the festivities. Instead, we watched all the pretty bright explosions of light and color from a few miles away, on the top of a hill, while standing inside a dog park, of course! Even from a distance, it was still a beautiful sight, even though I couldn’t see all the details of the fireworks, or the ones that were blocked by the trees.
It was a peaceful experience as the weather was pleasant, and the skies were clear. I wasn’t crowded (thank goodness!), and the air was calm. Most importantly, I was a long ways away from the noisy sounds of the firecrackers and the crowds of people . The lights of the city skyline were in the background, providing another layer of color behind the fireworks. It was just pretty.
The night was full of sparkles and twinkles!
Imagine seeing all those pretty colors… only from a grassy hill, much further away!
Pretty, yes?!!
Pretty Lights Below, Sparkly Stars Above
As well as seeing the shimmering fireworks from a distance, I could see the stars above me. From a top of that hill, the stars looked almost as bright as the fireworks!
Looking up at the stars, in the peaceful calm of the dog park, I had a little time to think about my year. And to think about plans. And hopes. And dreams.
Of course, I thought about what might happen here at Discussing Dissociation this year. We’ve been having such big changes and growth and expansion and all kinds of wonderful new stuff the past couple years. I certainly don’t expect THIS year to be any different.
I had already started doing something with a little story called “Five Wishing Stars” so while I was standing on a hill, in the middle of a dog park, watching fireworks and stars up in the sky, I was also thinking of you.
Because…..
I know that many dissociative trauma survivors struggle during the night.
For DID survivors, the night doesn’t typically feel as peaceful, or magical, or pretty as the night I was having on New Year’s Eve. There are often too many trauma memories, painful worries, nightmares, flashbacks, and life-long fears associated with the night.
Nighttime, and sleepy-time, is often scary — especially for the child parts of DID systems.
So….
To help your little ones hear a story, to see a story being read to them, and to experience someone give a little extra caring to their troubled times, I’ve recorded a video reading a sleepy-time story for them.
Five Wishing Stars, read by Kathy from Discussing Dissociation
I hope your littles like hearing this story!
And…
If you were a member of the Discussing Dissociation Community Forum….
You would have already had the opportunity to be listening to this story!
Yes, it’s true — the members of the Discussing Dissociation Community Forum (DDCF) have already been watching this new video and listening to this story. They got a little early-bird sneaky peek while I was waiting to have time to write this blog article.
For that matter, I posted this little video in the Forum on Christmas Day. I thought that a little gentle Christmas surprise of the nicest kind might be meaningful for the little ones who were needing a little boost of encouragement on what can be a difficult day. And yes, of course, those littles did need and appreciate that little bit of kindness.
So yep…… this is one of the unexpected benefits of being in the Forum.
The Forum Community will get the heads up on information and be able to be involved with additional resources more quickly. I may very well ask their opinion about issues, and get their input about pertinent topics. And of course, as I have time to add more and more features into the Forum itself, the Forum Members will be able to participate in a variety of additional activities and helpful exercises.
By the way, are YOU interested in joining the Community Friendship Forum?
The Forum is open and active RIGHT NOW. It’s been a busy, friendly, wonderful. In fact, in the first two weeks of open posting, the group has already made about a thousand posts per week. That is a lot of communication, a lot of friendly exchanges, and a lot of conversation and information about dissociative life! Wow!
So you know… I just have to stop and enjoy that little bit of really good news for this New Year. DDCF is going to have an amazing impact on the Discussing Dissociation Community.
I can see WONDERFUL things happening in the Forum. Great conversation. People understanding each other. Folks relating to what others have said… A little bit of fun. The occasional technical wrinkle to work out. But hey — we are having a good time in the Forum and YOU are invited to join us.
Click HERE for more information about the Discussing Dissociation Community Forum.
And today, or tonight — please let your system littles listen to the Five Wishing Stars story video! It’s nothing fancy, but hopefully, it will bring joy, and comfort, and peace, and a warm smile to your little ones.
Thanks so much for reading, and let’s make this New Year our best ever!!
Wishing you the very very best of healing this year….
Warmly,
Kathy
Copyright © 2008-2022 Kathy Broady MSW and Discussing Dissociation
Thank you. We never heard a story before.
Nite time be hard. We been having lots of nitemeres. Even our inside bad guy. We got lots of bad stuff in our head. We dont been sleeping. We got this app called Calm that helps us a little. There is storys on there and sounds. It help a little. Well not this week cuz we cant sleep but ushally it help. We also like lisining to this wishes story.
Hi my friend Rachel. Say, we get to talk here too. Cool! Nighttime sure can be a scary time. I just want you to know that all of those things going through your head are memories okay? They are not happening now. My talker lady has a soft snuggly stuffed doggie named Gabby that she gives to my little ones to hold when they are having bad memories. She tells them that Gabby was not there when the bad things happened. So, when they are holding Gabby they know that the bad things are not happening now. They are memories of things that happened a long time ago. Maybe you can get a stuffy that helps you remember that at night when the bad things are going through your head. I have a couple of stuffy dogs that I hold when I am feeling scared at night.
ME+WE
03/16/20
tank u for da stori. us kids likt it. we ben gon frum heer a wyl cuz r big ladi beca lostid her job an had ta find anuder job and den r bodi wuz sik for a long tim an we sleept a lot an not be on da cumputr. beca sed we cud be heer agin sumtims. im glad cuz heer we see mor pepol lik us an we not be all alon an we not hafta hid an keep secrit frum uder pepol. if i cud mak a wish it wud be dat us an uder pepol lik us dont hafta hid frum pepol wat r not lik us but evry wun cud be akseptid an protectid an be saf.
frum lisha
the story be nis
wishin on stars ⭐️ dont relly make you wish come tru tho not even if you wish a milyon tims 😞wishs on stars dont make pepl come back or good things hapin or bad pepo go awa.
Thank you for the story video, Kathy. We were never read to when we were young and my littles have a deep need for it. I hope you can make more short videos like this for littles–it means a lot to them that it’s especially for littles in a DID system and not meant for outside kids.
We have also been watching The Saddest Little Bear often and are waiting for more of those also. We rescued a trapped little recently who was very dirty, and after we got her all cleaned up, she wanted to hear the bear story, but since that bear hadn’t been dirty, we made one up for her that was just like what she went through. She loves hearing about the bear that was even more dirty than she was and needed a lot more cleaning up when he was found and rescued.
Tank u kathy for du stori. we likt it. war we liv der r sum sheeps in du litl pastchur acros du street frum r hows. De r getin der wintr cots all ful now to keep dem warm. in du spring dey wil hav baby sheeps. Du baby sheeps r reli fun to wach. Wen dey run an chas eech uder de start to hop an bownc. Dey r so funy wen dey do dat! 🐑🐑🐑🐑
frum al us litl kids frum mycircloflif
I like to watch all her story It helps me feel save at night
theres nothing peaceful or magical about New Years eve/ day for us. its just another day making us wish we had family to be around and when we are lonely. the thing we do like is the twilight zone marathon that is always on tv every year. a nice change from tucks constant star wars marathons.
we dont do new year’s resolution or anything. it seems silly. every year is just the same. and januarys are very hard for all of us.
but the kids did like the star book. they watched it several times at christmas and they liked it. thank you for sharing the story.
stars have always been an escape for us. looking up at the stars or imagining being up in the stars when bad things were happening. and van gogh’s starry night is our favorite painting.
thank you for the storey
fromsomkids
we liked seeing your story on christmas kathy
night time be really hard for us
we have watched if a few tiems