Crisis=Opportunity: NaBloPoMo

Rahm Emanuel said, “You never let a serious crisis go to waste.” Have you ever spun a crisis into an opportunity?

I suppose so. It didn’t feel like an opportunity usually does. There wasn’t the excitement or happiness. After I left my abusive relationship, I had the opportunity to live in a domestic violence shelter for a two-year program. It doesn’t sound like rainbows and sunshine but it beat living on the streets.
It was not easy. I couldn’t come and go as I pleased. Seriously, I had a curfew when I was thirty-something. It was more strict than living with my parents as a teenager. I could not invite people over to the house, especially not men. It wasn’t a big deal to me. I was in a sort of self-imposed exile for a year. Who was I going to invite?

One day I had to confess to my current boyfriend about what kind of house I lived in. He didn’t run screaming for the hills like I thought he might.

Some of my roommates were obnoxious. One even hacked into one of my messenger accounts to talk to a man. Some of my roommates were wonderful and made homemade pies.

I had a roommate who stole my snazzy red hairdryer. I didn’t notice until the day after she left. She lived in the house for about two weeks so no one was expecting her to leave so soon. I lost a hairdryer but she lost an opportunity to get her life back on track. I can buy a new hairdryer. She can’t buy another opportunity that would be as helpful.

There were meetings . . . and meetings . . therapy and support groups. More meetings. More therapy I tried to look at it as a learning experience. It was definitely a time of reflection. If I hadn’t gone, who knows what kind of life I would have now.

Red doors generally mean that the house is a safe harbor. I still love red doors. Maybe I can get a new red hairdryer to match the red door.

http://www.homecurbappeal.com/what-does-a-red-door-mean-the-history-origin-and-meaning-of-having-a-red-front-door/

The Homeless Mermaid and the Whale: My Story of Abuse and Freedom

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