tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1336931173750264195.post7360452100461301283..comments2023-11-03T09:07:11.559-06:00Comments on Depressed (but not unhappy) Mormon Mommy: Depression, Intuition, and The SpiritLaurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08214008384316494193noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1336931173750264195.post-5866766614447900472008-04-04T12:26:00.000-06:002008-04-04T12:26:00.000-06:00Excellent post Laura. I love what you said about ...Excellent post Laura. I love what you said about your intuition telling you to smell your kid's hands. Hee - I totally do that too! <BR/><BR/>I see a lot of myself in your post. Especially in trying to discern what is an actual "warning" and what's just my paranoia. Something that helps me is to remember "by their fruits ye shall know them." I ask myself what is the result of this worry - like keeping one hand on the baby at all times. Would it actually stop someone from stealing your baby if they were so inclined? Probably not. Does it bring down your general quality of life to have to do the ritual all the time? Probably. <BR/><BR/>And if that doesn't convince my brain to shut up already then I mentally say a prayer "giving" my child to God. I know that God is the only person who loves my babies more than I do and sometimes I have to trust His instincts over my own faulty wiring. <BR/><BR/>One thing though that makes all this harder is when people talk in church about how bad things wouldn't happen to people if they just "listened to the Spirit." For instance, one man, upon hearing of an instance of child abuse in our ward said, "If the parents had been close to the spirit, they would have been warned and been able to protect their child." This is utter crap and comes thisclose to victim blaming, in my book. Bad things happen to us not because we aren't close to the spirit but because we need the experiences to grow.<BR/><BR/>Sorry for the long comment!Charlottehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04339643338071382257noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1336931173750264195.post-29031363417243638982008-04-03T15:46:00.000-06:002008-04-03T15:46:00.000-06:00Wow! Thanks for your support, guys and for stoppin...Wow! Thanks for your support, guys and for stopping by. I hope you all come back so we can keep the discussions going! I think it is important to talk about how our depression works with our spirituality because of stories like coffinberry's. I know the missionaries mean well, but sometimes I wish they'd admit that life can be complicated.<BR/><BR/>I really like the ideas to write them down and what Tim says about prayer makes a lot of sense. Thanks for the thoughts!Laurahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08214008384316494193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1336931173750264195.post-49092692429837686142008-04-03T10:28:00.000-06:002008-04-03T10:28:00.000-06:00Hi Laura,I echo the comment from Silverrain. Than...Hi Laura,<BR/><BR/>I echo the comment from Silverrain. Thank you for blogging about this difficult subject. I intend to keep coming back here. Post more good stuff about how you are dealing with this affliction, successfully or not.<BR/><BR/>I'm sure you already realize this but you are not alone in dealing with the daily battle of depression. While I cannot relate to the difficulties of being a depressed Mormon mommy, your insights on how you handle the voices are most helpful.<BR/><BR/>Interpreting the voice of the Spirit among all the other voices has always been a struggle for me. Yet I can tell you that with time (I am 51 years old) it becomes easier. The clarity of careful thought can and does silence the accusing and fearful voices, at least for a little while.<BR/><BR/>Are we blessed or cursed because we are more susceptible to "hearing" those voices? Maybe we just have better verbalization skills than most. For those who do not suffer from this sensitivity, even those closest to us who love us, it can seem that we are just "crazy" or "weird". I reject that thinking.<BR/><BR/>As coffinberry confirmed, it takes a lot to cast out these fearful voices. Oh how I have prayed for this gift or perfect love. Alas, the Lord knows what is best for me. I have developed a measure of peace as I express love for others, but in no way has it been perfected.<BR/><BR/>Inspiration is real, intuition is real, the whisperings of the Spirit of the Lord are real. But nobody can tell me that there aren't other kinds of voices or that they aren't just as real. The real trick is learning to distinguish between them. Remember, we are here to learn to act for ourselves and not just to be acted upon.<BR/><BR/>I look forward to your future posts, even if they are written in between the demands of being a not unhappy Mormon mommy. Cheers.Tim Malonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11583763801445542972noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1336931173750264195.post-33525050344910223162008-04-03T09:24:00.000-06:002008-04-03T09:24:00.000-06:00Yes, this is why I wrestled/pushed-back so hard wh...Yes, this is why I wrestled/pushed-back so hard when a young missionary tried to tell me at dinner that perfect love casteth out all fear, hence if I was fearful, I didn't have enough love. Hmph. I still wrestle with this stuff (you would be amazed how many times my mind--apparently all of itself--tells me to "go to hell"). <BR/><BR/>But on the other hand, I can tell you that with time and practice, moments of clarity from the Spirit do come. Write them down and hold on to them for the times when things aren't so clear.Coffinberryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02733100127011713348noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1336931173750264195.post-56911487300054854082008-04-03T04:21:00.000-06:002008-04-03T04:21:00.000-06:00Thank you for this site! It is nice to see a serio...Thank you for this site! It is nice to see a serious problem tackled in an up-front, faithful way. It is scary to talk about these sorts of things, especially online.<BR/><BR/>Thank you for your efforts.SilverRainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00580230961425635077noreply@blogger.com