Have you ever seen the Harry Potter movies?
I have, and I always loved the movies and been a fan. I remember one summer, my cousins and I went to see the FINAL Harry Potter movie...it is one of my FAVORITE childhood memories! All of my cousins used to read the Harry Potter books and would always tell me to read them. However, I was always too afraid to pick up the book. I never really enjoyed reading, especially if there was already a movie about the book.
When I went to treatment, there was not really much I could do. A girl I was in treatment with was obsessed with Harry Potter. She would get really excited when anyone asked or spoke about the book. Eventually, she convinced me to read the Harry Potter novels. I said to myself, “why not?” I was in treatment and I can only do so much drawing, writing, etc. So, I decided to read Harry Potter.
And…. I BECAME OBSESSED!!!! Literally, I would be up all-night reading, it was all I wanted to do. I read the first book in a matter of three days! The treatment center had all the Harry Potter books, so once I finished one book, I went right onto the next.
There was seven of us in treatment together and eventually we all got hooked on Harry Potter. It became our thing. All we did was talked about the books. We sat at every meal, talking about Harry Potter. We would walk around the house quoting the movies or pretend to be the characters. Eventually, one of therapist working at the center brought in all the Harry Potter movies and we spent a week watching them.
Harry Potter really did help me recover, not because it made treatment somewhat enjoyable, but because of what I learned from reading the books. The most important thing I learned when reading each of the books was in order to find the light... YOU must defeat the darkness inside of you.
If you ever read Harry Potter, you would know that in order for Harry to defeat Voldemort, Harry, first had to kill the darkness inside of himself. It is important to know that in order for us to fully overcome our struggles we need to face them head on. DO NOT BUNDLE IT IN! Express your feelings, reach out for support, and face your darkness. We all have struggles, pain, failure, sadness, and the sense of feeling lost. However, in order for us to overcome these emotions, we need to face it.
You have to deal with the darkness inside of you first before you find the light of who you are.
We often try to avoid or ignore our emotions. It is okay to feel sad or angry, but how you deal with your emotions is important. I used to bundle everything in, which lead to self-destruction. Once, I started to pay attention to my feelings and express them in a healthier way, the self-destruction slowly went away. Sometimes you may need to sit with those uncomfortable feelings, which is not easy. Sometimes you have reach out for help when your pride is screaming “Don’t!” Sometimes you have to be vulnerable and open up to your love ones.
We all have our own Voldemort to defeat, but in order to win you have to take care of the darkness inside you of first.
Dealing with your darkness is not easy. I STILL have to work on it everyday. I have my days where my darkness win. Those days are where I learned the most about how to deal with the uncomfortable feelings.
Harry Potter was not always successful in defeating Voldemort and it took time. It will take time for you too. All good things take time. Just remember, the only way to overcome the darkness is to first FACE IT.
Lastly, when the negative thoughts come rolling in remember the spell, EXPECTO PATRONUM
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