Brief but Heartfelt Thanks

Last week I officially reached and surpassed 1,000 subscribers on YouTube for my eating disorder recovery/self-help/motivational speaking videos. Also just last week I reached and surpassed 1,000 followers on Twitter. I was especially excited by the YouTube subscribers number because it's a lot easier to gain followers on Twitter and my target audience on YouThbe is quite specific. I only make videos regarding eating disorders and recovery, so for that many people to actually SUBSCRIBE means a lot. I know many more people WATCH my videos without subscribing to the channel, so I'm astounded by the numbers. Knowing that I am reaching 1,000+ people with eating disorders is huge and important.

I'm very thankful to all my blog readers, all my YouTube viewers, and all my subsequent Twitter followers and Facebook fans. The thoughtful feedback I receive regularly is something for which I am very grateful. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading, watching, and writing to tell me how the blog and videos have been helpful to your recovery. YOU are doing the work, not me - and your recovery is special and unique to you. It's something of which you should be proud!

I also wanted to take a minute to thank all the YouTube viewers who do NOT have eating disorders who write to me to tell me that I have helped them with their recovery from alcoholism, drug addiction, even chronic pain... and conditions beyond. And a special thank you to the video viewers out there who just write to tell me my videos simply help them with LIFE. It's proof that we're all people and our similarities outweigh our differences.

Thank you all again. Have a fantastic week!

Don't Miss Out!

Just a quick reminder that I consistently do more videos than are posted here on the blog. In order to get notified of all the videos I do, please subscribe to my YouTube channel. I typically post on this site the Wednesday Warriors videos I make for a YouTube recovery collaboration, but that is a separate channel from my own and only a small portion of the eating disorder videos I create. I make recovery videos regularly- motivational, advice, and otherwise - and also respond to viewer questions, so make sure you're not missing out. :)

http://www.youtube.com/arielleleebair

 
  

My Responses to YOUR Answers to My Why Video

I know it's been video land lately on my blog, which is funny, because my first love and main staple is writing. I guess it's easier for me to just post videos on days that I am busy (which seems to be every day lately!) because I already have a commitment to make them anyway.

I posted a video not too long ago, in which I asked you why you felt that you couldn't achieve the same recovery I have. It's something I hear so often and I was trying to challenge that. I received so many responses, as comments on YouTube, as emails, as messages, and as comments on here - so I began making a video to address your answers to my question. It turned out to be two videos, and now seems like when all is said and done it will be three videos. :) Three parts, that is.

So, here are Part One and Part Two of My Responses to Your Answers to My Why Video. Part Three will be on its way by the end of the week.

PART ONE:


PART TWO:

Getting Your Priorities Straight

Hi everyone,

I have officially stopped accepting art for my Calling All Art! Show & Tell and Giveaway (unless you get something to me within the next 3 hours, that is). I still have some more artwork to put up on the site in the next couple of weeks, but I will no longer be collecting more for the Giveaway. Stay tuned, because there are some DAZZLING pieces still to come.

On a different note, I received a question from one of my YouTube viewers last week and made a video in response. Hope you can find it helpful. It's about getting your priorities straight, or in other words, "how can I give up other aspects of my life to get help?"

Check it out - click to view on YouTube as usual. :)

Question # 13: How to Fill the Void

Well, your questions are still coming! I’ll keep going until the questions run dry, so if there’s anything at all you want to ask, just leave a comment on any post and I’ll collect them and go from there. No need to backtrack to the original Q & A post.

Question # 13 comes from Stella:

“How can you fill the void you feel when you stop restricting so you can't count on anorexia ‘support’?”

Excellent question! I did a post about this a long time ago, back in 2007. I called it “Filling the Gap.” This is something a lot of people struggle with as they try to recover, and it’s a concern for a reason. Letting go of something so all-consuming is difficult. It stands to reason that you wouldn’t want to be left with a void after you “let go.” That wouldn’t feel very good.

Check out the link to my old "Filling the Gap" post for some elaboration. It all centers around the question: What do you want to do?

The more open-ended the question, the better. Your life is like a blank canvas and you get to paint it.

Sometimes it's hard to remember what it is we actually like to do. Sometimes we never even learned what those somethings are. We never had time. We were all-consumed with our eating disorders. But there is beauty in discovering what we're good at, what we enjoy, what makes us smile or feel accomplished (besides eating disordered behavior), what makes us laugh or tap into our creative sides.

I challenge you to find out. I challenge you to rediscover (or to discover for the first time) what you enjoy about this world, this life. There is a plethora of wonderfulness out there waiting. All you have to do is start with the question What do I want to do? and then go DO it. It's often as simple as that.

Show & Tell: Lily Mosaic

Here is the second piece of artwork in my Calling All Art! Show & Tell and Giveaway. This piece is by Serra and is a mosaic.

[click for a larger view]

Serra writes:

"My lily is my symbol of new beginnings and second chances. The white
lily symbolises innocence and purity which is what i have finally
found within myself in my recovery... I lost my innocence early in
life and searched for too long to make myself feel clean again, and
guess what? Once I began to accept myself and even like myself I
realised that I really was ok after all. I got married in February of
this year, and the lilies were my wedding flowers because of their
symbolism and because I was beginning a new healthy love filled life
with my amazing husband. Before my wedding I had these lilies tattooed
across my back and shoulders so I can always have them with me and
show the world that I'm back!"


Well done, Serra! What could be more beautiful than symbolism like that? The lily mosaic is not only truly lovely, it is also a symbol of what Serra has regained for herself: innocence and purity. This art shows that despite the pain of an eating disorder and the hardship of recovery, the outcome can still be a beautiful one. So often we hear about people who have made headway with their eating disorders, only to show the world a darker version of themselves. This art is proof that beauty can still be found, that all the hard work does not have to make you a harder person. I love the detail and the color of this piece, but I love the message even more. Who knew a lily could signify such strength and resilience? Thank you, Serra, for sharing your artwork with us. Look for it on the sidebar of my blog for the next month and consider yourself entered in the Giveaway! :)


If you'd like to enter the Giveaway and have your artwork displayed here, just click here for the instructions. I will accept artwork until the end of November. I can't wait to see all of your art!

Show & Tell: "Recovery Way"

Here it is, the first work of art in my Calling All Art! Show & Tell and Giveaway. This piece is by Veggie and is called "Recovery Way."

[click for a larger view]

Veggie writes:

"Some parts of this drawing/collage are in English, others are in Italian (as I am Italian), so I’m translating the Italian ones...

C’è il senso sbagliato… = There’s the wrong way… (the words above 'anorexia')

… e c’è il senso vincente! = …and there’s the winning way! (the words below recovery)

Vita = Life

Problema = Problem

I am going to 'Recovery'… the road is long and hard, but it seems a wonderful place when you get it… Who’s going to join me in this way?"

Well done, Veggie! This collage drawing, "Recovery Way" is so thought provoking. It's strong and it has a clear message. It symbolizes the crossroads we all seem to reach at some point. Will we go the old way, the wrong way? Or will we choose to go the "winning" way, or the recovery way? It is the ultimate question. This piece of intelligent and challenging art asks the question we all ask ourselves at the start of recovery. Artwork that asks a question, that causes the audience to think, is so important. Thank you, Veggie for sharing your art with us. Look for it on the sidebar of my blog for the rest of the next month, and consider yourself entered in the Giveaway. :)

If you'd like to enter the Giveaway and have your art displayed here, just click here for the instructions. I will accept artwork until the end of November. I can't wait to see all of your art!

200!

As of today, I officially have 200 YouTube subscribers! Having only been on YouTube since March of this year, I consider this quite lovely. This excites me, because the main topic for my channel is eating disorder recovery and I love knowing the there are people out there listening and getting some kind of benefit from my words. I tend to randomly upload a video or two of my crazy and entertaining mother...and there are two videos up unrelated to eating disorders (a slideshow of me and my husband, though it's semi-relevant because people often want to know more about my life, and a video compilation of my artwork over the last almost 15 years).

My YouTube Channel can be found here. Thanks to everyone for watching my recovery videos and for sending such wonderful comments. I truly appreciate it and promise to keep churning out the videos. :)

Love & hope to all of you.