Guest Interview: Gabrielle

​This series of guest interviews is part of the Practicing Together project - a 6 month exploration of the 5 Practices framework that I use in my Seeds of Connection groups.  Each guest was invited to choose 5 questions from a list of over 60 questions that were based on the different practices.  The questions are being posted over the next many months on my Instagram feed - follow along and answer them for yourself, and see how others in the community are reflecting on these topics.  A new guest interview will be posted to this blog every Friday from June through November 2022.  Read more about the Practicing Together project and join us for the monthly Community Calls for deeper exploration!

I'm so grateful  for the opportunities I've had to spend time with Gabrielle.  We've never actually met in-person, but met via magic of the interwebs around 5 years ago when I offered my first virtual group - a 6 week series focusing on birth trauma.  Since then, we've done some other work together and I've had a chance to learn more about her.  She has a very real passion for healing -  in her own personal, internal work, and also in her role as a helper/healer. She is a fiercely loving mom, a sweetly in-love wife, and a loyal and compassionate person, and she's got a great smile! I so appreciate her willingness to participate in this project.  I hope you'll enjoy her answers to the questions she chose.


How would you respond to these questions?  Do Gabrielle's answers spark anything for you?  Leave a comment!

Were any aspects of your identity celebrated or suppressed throughout your life? How did this affect you? 
Perfectionism was celebrated as a major theme of my childhood. And I still struggle today to let that go and accept living a messy life. But I desperately don’t want to pass this on to my son. Additionally, being a care giver was celebrated in my 20’s and on ward. People tend to expect me to take care of everything, and I’m pretty good at it and I let everything fall on my shoulders when it does not have to. This has left me burnt out and exhausted as an employee, wife, mother, daughter, etc.

If disability or chronic illness is part of your experience – will you share how this affects how you navigate the world and interact with others?
Chronic illness has been part of my experience for a long time now, and more recently has affected my husband. It has definitely made me more patient with other people. I have so many “bad” days with my illnesses, that I always just assume other people are having bad days too, and give them grace and kindness.  

Are there places you can go or people you can be with where you feel you can be 100% yourself?
I am lucky enough to have a sold inner friend circle. There are 4 people (besides my husband) who know my every flaw and error and love me in spite of them. And vice versa. As an only child, they are so valuable to me and the closet thing to siblings I could have.

What false stories, myths, or constructs have you believed about yourself? How have you or do you let those go or shift/change them?
I’m sure my therapist could list more, but what comes to mind is the idea that I cannot be loved if I am not perfect. I have come a long way with this, but still have traces of it in my subconscious and it pops out when I’m not paying attention.  

What does it mean to you to move toward healing?  What types of things support your healing journey?
​​Moving towards healing, to me, means finding peace. Being able to face life and stay in control of my happiness and not get triggered by things that bring up the past for me. I’ve done talk therapy, medication, TMS therapy, listening sessions, massage, yoga, mediation. Just to name a few.

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BIO

Gabrielle is a dietitian and mom of a kind and amazing 6 year old.  She agreed to participate in this project because she has been working so hard to heal and believes that sharing that process with others helps everyone to heal.  She is most creative when she is well rested (lol).  Gabrielle and Crystal first connected through a 6 week birth trauma group series facilitated by Crystal nearly 6 years ago, and she has worked 1:1 with Crystal through Hakomi Listening Sessions.