Buoys & Breadcrumbs

The biggest struggle throughout my adult life has been the lack of leaving myself breadcrumbs.

Imagine traveling out to sea. A storm takes place and the boat capsizes. You realize you’re now lost in open ocean with no clear view of where the nearest shore is. Without a single reference point to navigate from, do you believe you would find land before you drown? If only you had dropped buoys on your way out…

Attempting to tread water between the waves until you can find your bearings would be incredibly exhausting; however, swimming in any direction before you know which way to go could easily result in moving in circles or even further away from land.

Like the ocean current, our mental state is in a constant state of flux. So what’s the right answer? Breadcrumbs – A trail that can be used to help you find your way back. It’s not the perfect solution, but it could be your best available.

If you cannot afford a therapist or your company-paid health insurance does not allow for comprehensive mental health care, then it’s up to you to help yourself.

You will never *ever* get to where you need to be from burying it and marching forward. While you pretend it doesn’t exist, it gains strength in the shadows waiting for resurrection day… and it like it or not, it will return… and never at a convenient point in your life.

So what makes a breadcrumb? The thoughts and emotions you transpose from what’s inside your head to the world of black and white. Each entry is a crumb. Over time, you develop a chronologic journal of your mental health. These crumbs provide an opportunity to track your progress as well as backtrack whenever you desire to see where you have come from -should you decide to journey into your past at all.

Without a trail, you could be 6 months, a year, maybe even a few years down the road and feel as though you have made little to no progress at all -which only makes things worse.

A journal allows emotional time travel. It’s almost impossible to appreciate how far you’ve progressed if you have no idea where you’ve come from.

It doesn’t have to be online, structured, follow any sort of outline, or have frequent entries. Add when your emotions are strongest. Take notes when there’s something inside your head that will not leave you alone.

Just write.