talk it out.

I had my weekly session with Dana yesterday. The first twenty minutes was an evaluation of how I've progressed this quarter. That is right, despite what I had originally thought, I am progressing. The situations might be the same but the way I go about them and handle them are different than before.

I have started to establish my own identity, no longer completely and utterly lost. Dana said it won't change overnight but it will happen. It is happening. My isolation, although it has been extremely lonely at times, has really helped me more than I thought. It has given me a chance to clear my head and figure out what I do and do not want in my life. But she does stress that my isolation can't go on forever. That I must start giving people a chance again to earn my trust. I told Dana that the type of friends I want and need in my life might not be located in Bellingham. But I'll try. I do have a handful of people up here that I'd like to hang out with but our schedules right now aren't really compatible.

The other 40 minutes were dedicated to talking about things that took me a month and a half to get enough courage to talk about. It felt really good and I do wish I had done it earlier but hindsight is 20/20..as I have been realizing every single day.

I really encourage everyone to take advantage of Western's counseling center. No matter what your problem is, they are there to help.