Cape of Leaves

A few years ago, I found myself in a period of intense, immense, invigorating, and terrifying growth. During that time, one of my many coping mechanisms was to write...and write...and write. I didn't journal so much as I wrote in metaphor, sometimes turning the metaphor into a chapter and sometimes turning it into a poem.

For the next few Fridays, I'll be posting some of the poems that I think speak most to people who are in relationship transition. They are meant to be starting points for discussion, even if it's just a discussion with yourself.

Now that I'm a therapist, I see clients benefit from writing, journaling, making or participating in music, meditating, exercising, and taking care of themselves by committing to their futures. How are you giving yourself the care you need?

If you're in a tough relationship transition right now, or haven't fully completed one that you experienced before, let me know. In the meantime, take good care of yourself!

To order my book, Cape of Leaves, click here.

For more information: www.touchingtrees.com

Toss the Bag of Poop, or...Things You Shouldn't Have to Do When You Break Up

A few weeks ago I noticed a funny thing on the way to work. There was a white plastic bag of poop in the middle of the street. Just sitting there, alone. My thoughts, in order, were: 

** Who drops a bag of poop and doesn't notice?

** How many people have driven by this bag of poop and done nothing?

** How gross would it be to drive over it? And, would it explode like a Taco Bell sauce packet?

** When are the poop-droppers going to get back here and move this lump of turd from the street?

Then I, of course, also drove by it.

And then I drove by it again and again and again, as did all my neighbors and delivery people. No one drove over it. No one moved it. We all just drove by it.

One day, it wasn't in the middle of the street anymore. Someone had taken the time to...well, not throw it away, per se...just move it to the side of the curb. And, they placed it precisely on my property line. 

Was this bag of poop now my responsibility? Was it my next-door neighbor's? Who was playing this game with the poop? WHY DIDN'T THEY JUST THROW IT AWAY??

So, I and all the people on my street drove by it for another week that way--it's thin white plastic handle gently waving in the breeze created by our vehicles scurrying past.

Eventually, I thought: GOOD GOD. Someone has to do something about this bag of poop!!

Then, I realized it could be me. I could be the "someone" who did something about the bag of poop. I didn't want to and I sure didn't think I should have to (it was not MY bag of poop, you know), but I *could* do something about it. So I did.

And then I decided to write about it. 

Why? 

Because I know a lot of people who are dealing with bags of poop in their relationships. Almost every divorcing couple has a bag or two of poop that no one wants to deal with because "it's not fair" and "it's not my fault" and "I didn't make this mess". 

They are right. And, yet...

We often don't make the mess we have to clean up when a relationship goes south. It really can be less our fault than the other person's. It can be incredibly NOT FAIR that we have to deal with it...and it can still be a bag of poop that needs dealt with. 

There's no F for Fairness in a divorce or a breakup. Even if the money and personal property get split fairly and custody is fair and anyone (who isn't actually IN the relationship) can look at the situation, nod, and go "Yeah, that seems fair", it just isn't. It isn't fair that you have to deal with a mess that you may not have contributed equally to. It's not fair that your kids or your friends or your families have to reorganize their lives around your changed relationship.

It isn't fair; it just IS.

Are there any bags of poop lying around in your life that need tending and tossing? Are there any leftover bags of poop from your breakup that *someone* (meaning, probably YOU) just needs to deal with?

If so, knowing full well that it's not fair AT ALL, you may find that it makes sense to plug your nose, squint your eyes, and just dispose of the bag of poop quickly and efficiently because then you won't have that particular bag of poop to deal with any longer.

You'll be one step closer to better.

For more information on how to delicately dispose of or deal with bags of relationship poop, please feel free to call me at 612-888-2522, check out my website at www.touchingtrees.com, or email me at jennimcmc@touchingtrees.com.

Two Trees: How We Can Keep Moving Forward After a Breakup

Growing end of the oldest Banyan tree on Maui

For the past I-can't-count-how-many-years, I've enjoyed taking pictures of plants. I like to get super close, hold my breath, and try to capture the most intimate details as possible.

As a therapist, it's clear to me that my process is the same: I like to get close to people, see them at their most vulnerable and beautiful, and then reflect back to them their unique identity.

There's just SO MUCH that can be learned about life by studying the metaphors provided by plants, and nothing teaches us as much about ourselves during times of crisis as our friends, the trees.

Breakups just suck. They hurt and are uncomfortable and they require a re-writing of both history and the future. We lose friends, gain friends, lose family, gain freedom... Despite the possibility of something better--a better sense of self, a better relationship, a better future--breakups mean change and change means growth.

Roots working with rock

The Banyan tree grows remarkably fast and sends roots out from nearly everywhere. For some of us, a breakup means that you can be like the Banyan tree--and immediately start reaching out for something different. You can re-install that online dating app; you can apply to grad school or eat what you want on a Thursday night.

You can use your post-breakup time to start digging deeply into your dreams and re-rooting yourself into your newest identity.

The Tamarack handles change a little differently. During the summer, it appears to be just like every other spruce: It has green needles bunched together in such a way as to look lush and soft. In autumn, however, the Tamarack turns yellow, like its neighboring birches, and the needles fall right off.

If you're not the type of person who leaps into single-hood with energy and vigor after a breakup, you might be the kind of person who has to wait until there's an appropriate time to change. Then, you might have to shed the life you had, along with its hopes and plans, and start over. Emotionally, that means you have to take stock and then build yourself back up from a place of raw bareness. 

Of course, I could probably go on all day about tree metaphors and breakups (I so totally could!), but I'm curious what you think.

If you're in a transition period in your own romantic relationship, which kind of tree better describes your reaction? Neither are better than the other; both serve their purpose of decoupling.



If you're struggling in your relationship right now, it's easy to get help (and super beneficial!). Twin Cities readers, feel free to contact me at www.touchingtrees.com or at jennimcmc@touchingtrees.com.

The 4 Cs of Successfully Surviving Divorce

A short time ago I had coffee with Lisa Byrne CDFA, of Second Saturdays and Divorcing Divas. Lisa has dedicated her professional career to helping people, mostly women, land on their feet financially and emotionally after divorce.

 During our chat, Lisa shared with me that she believes that there are 3 Cs critical to a positive post-divorce situation: Control, Confidence, and Closure. After totally fan-girling her idea, I thought about how true those three Cs were in my own professional experiences with individuals and couples. The people who do the best after divorce are the ones who have (or gain) some control over their own lives, are able to develop confidence because of that control, and are then able to achieve a level of closure from the relationship.

Then I realized there was a fourth C -- one that Lisa and all therapists, financial analysts, mediators, and family law attorneys embody.

That C is Connection.

Over the next couple of months, I'm going to be exploring each of the four Cs: looking at what they mean, how they are impactful, how a lack of them can make post-divorce life really difficult, and how they can be encouraged in the lives of our friends, family, and clients.

I invite you to join me for those posts and make comments, either on the post, my Facebook, or my Twitter. If you or someone you know in the Twin Cities is having difficulty with any of the Cs, feel free to contact me at jennimcmc@touchingtrees.com or at 612-888-2522.

Self-Help Book Club Suggestions!

Hi everyone --

I just posted a video inviting you to participate in a virtual self-help book club with me over the coming months. Here are links to the books I mentioned in the video:

  Conscious Uncoupling: Katherine Woodward Thomas

The Emotionally Abusive Relationship: Beverly Engel

Mom's House, Dad's House: Isolina Ricci, PhD.

The Divorce Remedy: Michele Weiner Davis

Transformational Divorce: Karen Kahn Wilson, Ed.D

The Long Way Home--The Powerful 4-Step Plan for Adult Children of Divorce: M. Gary Neuman

If any of these seem interesting to you, or you'd like to suggest a different one we can read together, feel free to email me at:

jennimcmc@touchingtrees.com

Or call  me at:
612-888-2522

Or visit my website at:
www.touchingtrees.com

What is Closure...Really?

A quick look-up of the word "closure" as it relates to psychology shows that closure is when you take something that is ambiguous or not-understood and find a resolution to it. In that sense, closure can be minimized as a simple question  ---->  answer process.

Relationship closure is a whole different beast, though. Ambiguity in a relationship, particularly one that's in crisis, can last for years and have many different layers. There are questions about the other, such as:

** Why is he/she acting like that?
** Is there someone else?
** Is my partner cheating/mentally ill/physically ill/stressed out?

And there are ambiguous questions about ourselves, such as:

** What did I do to cause this?
** Is it my fault?
** Could I have been better/sexier/funnier/richer/more attractive?
** What could I have done to make this relationship work?

The interplay of all of those unknowns can make it really challenging to find "closure" in any real sense of the word. How can you achieve closure when you're not sure if maybe you could have done something to prevent your relationship from falling apart?

In my work with pre-divorce/divorcing/and post-divorce individuals and couples, there is a palpable belief that closure can happen and it can happen in such a way as to make people feel better. As an optimist, I do believe closure can occur and it can be a relief. I also think of that type of closure as an "ideal" closure.

As a realist, I think we need to explore that a more "baseline" closure may happen instead and that baseline closure may have to suffice for awhile.

Recently, I was asked what word I would use that means the same thing as closure. I couldn't think of just one. Instead, I thought that closure (particularly baseline closure) is a mixture of 1) acceptance of the things that happened, 2) hope for the future, and 3) forward motion toward change.

Accepting what's happened isn't necessarily finding answers, but it's the acknowledgement that answers may not be found. In couples where one partner wants to know "WHY?" and the other partner still has ambiguity about that very same thing, answers won't be forthcoming. So, accepting that something happened and can't be changed is really that first step toward closure.

Secondly, developing or rekindling hope for the future is key to finding closure. If you can't envision a future for yourself that holds something positive, you won't move past needing to understand the "why" of your situation. You'll be constantly trying to find "the answer" because it feels like the answer has to come before the hope.

Finally, forward motion is the process of acting on your hope. Forward motion means making one change, or a whole bunch of changes, that propel you toward your positive vision of what the future will look like.

If you're in the process of trying to find closure, which stage best describes where you are right now? If you've achieved closure, how did you do it? What were the pivotal moments that told you that you'd gotten to where you needed to be?

Please feel free to email your responses or post them on this blog. You can reach me at jennimcmc@touchingtrees.com. You can also check out my website at www.touchingtrees.com for more information about achieving closure within relationships.