A friend shared with me, a week ago, how she deals with her own trouble spots. She doesn't try to fight her demons, she becomes friends with them. Her own words are that the demons are often there for a reason, that they showed up because she needed the help and protection they provided at the time, and that getting face to face with them and treating them like the friend they intended to be, it's so much easier to figure out why they are there, if they are still needed or if it's time to bid them farewell. She says that works so much better than what people (like me) often do, to identify them and them do their darnest to push those demons away.

A few days ago, I remembered hearing the story, a long time ago, about this lady who invited her demons for tea. I did ty to look it up, and I found a reference to a book called "Tea With Demons" by Carol Allen, but I've no idea if it contains the text I'm thinking of.

Either way, I tried it out on myself, and liked it. I started with the big monster of Fear and Isolation (when I feel insecure, I pull back and isolate myself). I'm fairly certain when it came to be, and the picture I have is a rather big furry thing that will gladly wrap it's fluffy arms around me when I seem to need it. It's still around, and I've no idea for how long, but it's rather friendly and I think it'll understand with time that I might not really need as much protection as it thinks.

A couple of days ago, I was really scared that another friend wouldn't want to be friends with me any more, because of things I said I'd done last weekend. The thought was along the lines of "there's no reason for anyone to want to even know me." I think that was the little demon of Self-Bashing whacking at my head with it's little fierce bat. You know those little demons that are drawn on a character's shoulder in some comic strips? That's about how I picture this little bugger, although I can't be sure, because when I want to confront it, it vanishes! That makes it really hard to grasp...

Boy, picturing your demons this way, what a powerful tool!