Tag: #abusesurvivor

“Facing Trauma”: My First Ever Podcast Interview

Today I experienced my first ever podcast interview! (You can listen to it on Spotify now!) The podcast channel is called Past Level 50 With Mel and my particular episode is called “Facing Trauma Without The Mask: Misty’s Story”.

Mel and I follow each other on TikTok and that’s how we “met”. She reached out to me about a week ago and invited me to do a podcast with her, after I had mentioned that someday I’d like to do a TEDx Talk and podcast interview about how I’ve used art to help me cope and heal my childhood trauma.

Mel is so easy to talk to. She immediately put me at ease. She’s genuinely kind and real.

I started my trauma healing journey two years ago and today was the culmination of what I’ve learned along the way.

Talking about my life isn’t easy. In fact, it goes against everything I was taught growing up and is foreign to me. I was expected to be quiet and not have needs or emotions. I was taught it was better for me to be invisible and not make myself a target. It’s how I survived.

Here I am holding a foam sculpture I made with an endearing message that means a lot to me

Today triggered me. I felt like I was shaming my mother and her memory. Like I was the bad child my parents made me out to be. Like I was failing her. But the truth is these things happened. I didn’t ask to be born, nor did I ask to be abused by people who should’ve protected me and comforted me. They failed me.

None of this has been easy for me. It’s like ripping a big bandage off a deep, angry wound. It’s raw and painful. But the wound needs to be exposed to the light to heal properly. Keeping this locked inside no longer serves me.

I don’t want to be a prisoner of the past. I owe it to myself to honor myself and my truth. And hopefully, my story will help others know that healing is possible. Though, my main goal is to feel better by healing myself and my family. But I love hearing that it helps others as well. That’s wonderful and amazing to me!

This is a journey I’ll probably be on the rest of my life, but it’s worth it because every step of the way more of the weight is lifted from me.

My mom was troubled. She had her own trauma and didn’t have the tools to cope or heal, but she wanted to and she tried. She did get some things right. She apologized to me a few years ago and genuinely meant it. I forgive her and I love and miss her. I’m her legacy and my healing and ending the generational trauma cycle is my legacy for me and future generations.

Easter with my mom and brother. This was her favorite memory and one of mine too. This photo was at her bedside when she passed. I was at her side too.

If you’ve ever experienced anything similar, please feel free to share in the comments.

To Learn More About Me And My Artwork, Please Visit My LinkTree

Copyrights & Reproduction Rights Belong Solely To Misty Lemons/Designs By Misty Blue Do Not Copy

First Image Courtesy Of Mel Chavez

*For Educational Purposes Only

Celebrate Life

I am celebrating my life and all the hard work it took to get to where I am now.

For the past two years, I’ve been working on healing my childhood trauma and ptsd.

Highlights From My Life In The Past Year

Looking back now, I see just how far I’ve come. Loud unexpected noises don’t cause my body to go into an adrenaline filled tailspin. It would make me feel sick for a day or two. I recover almost instantly now. And when I’m triggered, which is less often, I’m able to analyze why it happened and how to move through it.

Along the way, I received some therapy. I journalled, sat with my feelings and let them pass through (I don’t ignore or resist them now), I got outside and painted, took up sculpting, and researched quite a bit on Pinterest.

Here I Am Sporting A New Hairdo And Wearing Polymer Clay Earrings & Pin That I Made

Journalling helped me process my thoughts and emotions. I had several breakthroughs that way. And Pinterest gave me new information I didn’t have before.

I didn’t think I’d live past the age of 17. Yet here I am now at 43. At home in my body. Loved and accepted by myself. At peace.

I don’t know what’s next, but whatever it is, I’m hopeful and grateful.

If you’ve ever experienced anything similar, please feel free to share in the comments.

To Learn More About Me And My Artwork, Please Visit: My LinkTree

#traumahealingjourney #traumasurvivor #ptsd #childhoodtrauma #selfcare #selflove #grateful #mentalhealthmatters #chronicillnesswarrior #texasartist #mistylemons #designsbymistyblue

Copyrights Belong Solely To Misty R. Lemons/Designs By Misty Blue

Music Credit: As The World Caves In – Sarah Cothran

*For Educational Purposes Only

Thyroid Cancer Survivor

Eleven years ago, I had surgery to remove my thyroid. I had two terribly painful lemon size nodules on my thyroid. One in front of the other.

Here I Am, Before Surgery. I Look Happy, But Was Completely Scared.

When they removed everything, they ran tests on the thyroid and nodules. They found a small amount of cancer in my thyroid. Thankfully, removing it was enough to treat it. I didn’t need chemotherapy.

Here I Am After Surgery And Having An Ordeal Post Op. I Was Miserable And Could Hardly Speak. The Surgery Effected My Vocal Chords.

My health is still a struggle, even after all these years. But in all this time, I’ve also had incredible and wonderful things happen that I’m extremely grateful for.

Here I Am (Center) With My Husband (Left) And Son (Right). We Have A Silly Accessories Filter On. This Was Taken At A Local Art And Music Festival.

Spending time with my family and creating art are at the top of my list of things I’m thankful for.

I’ve won awards for my art and photography. I’ve gotten to paint a mural, curated an exhibition that I participated in with a great group of art friends, I stream live while I paint, and so many more fantastic things, in spite of my health and childhood and medical trauma.

Here’s The Give Love Project And Exhibition I Curated And Participated In With A Great Group Of Art Friends. (My Piece Is Pictured Center)

It has been a tough journey, but I’m glad I could be on it. I’m still here and made a YouTube video to prove it!

I lost my mom and my dog this year, within months of each other. And as hard as it’s been, I’m blessed to have gotten to share my life with them. They blessed me with their love and support. I miss them every single day. I hope they can see me and are cheering me on.

Here’s A Glamour Shot Of My Beautiful Momma! I Miss You, Mom And Love You Bunches!

Here’s My Beautiful Buddy (A Lab Heeler Mix) Who I Lost Two Months Before Losing My Mom. I Miss Him So Much.

Here’s A Photo I Recently Took Of Myself On One Of My Jaunts To Paint In The Park (I Stream It Live On TikTok, Designs By Misty Blue)

If you’ve ever experienced anything similar, please feel free to share in the comments.

Thank you for reading my blog and for supporting me. To learn more about me, visit my LinkTree.

Copyrights & Reproduction Rights Belong Solely To Misty R. Lemons/Designs By Misty Blue Do Not Copy

*For Educational Purposes Only

Misty Lemons Presents: A Light In The Dark

I’m putting together a proposal for a gallery exhibition. I have art pieces in mind. Some need to be framed (paintings and drawings) and others will need to be printed onto canvas and framed (digital art). I’m calling my exhibit, “A Light In The Dark”.

The theme for my exhibition is my journey through generational trauma and how art has been a major coping mechanism and driving force in my healing, throughout my life.

I want to incorporate pieces from my childhood and teenage years, as well as work from my adulthood.

Here, I am standing in the beautiful gallery space I want my exhibition to be in

Art is an extremely pure form of expression, in my opinion. It helps the artist express and work through buried thoughts and emotions. It’s also a form of meditation and living in the moment, when you’re creating. Which, in turn helps with anxiety and depression.

As I’m Working To Put This Exhibition Proposal Together, I Made A Video Talking About What Motivated Me To Do So, Please ***Watch***

Putting this together, on my own, will be an expensive undertaking. But I need to be fully prepared and ready to go, should my proposal be accepted. I want to put forth a fully fleshed out exhibition, before I approach the gallery. The gallery is more like a museum setting, so the pieces will not be shown for purchase. I will not be making money from this.

I’ve set up a Kofi Fundraiser to help offset costs. If you feel inspired to help me make this exhibition a reality, it is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Copyrights: Misty R. Lemons/Designs By Misty Blue Do Not Copy

*For Educational Purposes Only