Dee Dee - Diane-Diaz

10/15/2024

Tell me winter has arrived without telling me winter has arrived…6:15 am

09/16/2024

😞

Sometimes grief hits in the unexpected places.

Listening to the Jackson five as a little girl brings up so many emotions and fond memories.

I never knew him but I know how he made me feel.

09/11/2024

09/09/2024

You will be missed 💔RIP

08/25/2024

He always read the cards.

Journal entry 8.25.24

Happy birthday Sergio. 34 is a BIG deal! Here I am living your legacy. I love you. I miss you. I miss your voice. I have forgotten what your hug feels like and what your hands in my hair feels like. The scent of your favorite cologne eludes me. And the taste of your favorite foods isn’t the same. Not sure how I’ll honor your bday today, if I’ll do something special or nothing at all. Being, today, seems like enough.

XXOO💗Mami

08/16/2024

I’ve been sitting with all the “things” I have seen for this next season. The things I have heard a calling towards.

The keen awareness that there is a shift happening and I am being called to higher levels of being.

Some places, if I have to be honest, I am not interested in doing.

And in the fear,

I’ve been complaining and I’ve even been threatening to use my power as a means to control things.

BUT it doesn’t feel authentic.

It feels victimie (IK I made that word up) and gross.

Truth is I want the ease. I want the flow.

I don’t want the hustle or the work. I don’t want to invest the time and I sure as heck don’t want to invest in the energy it requires.

Who’s got me?

Sitting in this messy middle, I realize that the tension in this fight is my old friend grief.

And I sit here reflecting…

One of the things I love about my home is that the windows downstairs gives me a 180 degree view of the tree tops on our property.

This picture is from my dinning room table.

What you can’t see in the picture is the creek that bubbles below where the birds dive into for a drink of water or a quick bath.

What you can’t see are the butterflies that fly in and out of the greenery and way above the tree tops.

You can’t see the humming bird that visits during certain times of the day during this time of year.

There’s squirrels, muskrats, and all sorts of other critters, some that can also be seen and some who leave evidence of their presence.

There are also all sorts of creepy crawlers, some that fascinate me and some that repulse the ebbiegibbies out from me.

The one constant in the scenery of creation before me, is change.

Nothing is ever exactly the same.

That is where we will always find grief. In the releasing for new things and the resistance from the old things.

The second constant of my 180 degree unobstructed view of the land beside me, means that I get to enjoy not only the change of what’s in front of me but everything in my perifial vision.

I get to.

I need to remind myself that I have choices. I may not always like what I see or what I am called to do. I may not like the efforts that I need to apply to get to the higher levels of where I am being called to reach. I may not know what is going on in the background,

But also,

When I restrict my vision, when grief clouds my perspective and I choose not to be present, or honor the grief, I run the risk of missing out on the big picture.

Life will never be the same, and that doesn’t mean it can’t still be good.

08/12/2024

I can’t help but notice the vibrant colors of flowers. I love to admire them, even in their tiniest forms.

It’s been a long haul for several months now.

Sis is tired.

And while last week I had some much needed downtime with the love of my life, truth is there was still too much “doing”.

The full travel day yesterday, with delays and shenanigans, meant that there was no real down time then either.

I seriously contemplated not doing groceries and working with what I had. The option was to delay the inevitable and as school starts that is just not a real option.

So, I did what makes me happy. I bought flowers.

And as I put the groceries away, I popped my flowers in water to return tonight after clients to trim them accordingly.

In the mean time, in the middle of adulting, they bring me joy.

A reminder, that we can make the most of what we got, even when we are tired.

Sis, bruh…go buy yourself some flowers.

08/07/2024

A spiritual crisis always has a form of grief or grieving attached to it.

When there’s big questions that feel like they get lost in the universe, our mental wellbeing can be destabilized.

A spiritual care plan is certainly one way to stabilize and get grounded BUT what happens when you need more?

Often the Christians I support struggle with God AND Grief.

The human side doesn’t always reconcile the spiritual side and vice versa.

It’s important to remember that psychology safety and spiritual wellbeing are two sides of one coin.

It’s not one or the other, it’s the wisdom to know when to integrate both.

I do not own the rights to this meme.

07/17/2024

Day 17 to 54

Two days from my birthday, and this is likely my last post about it.

I spent a week with my Legacy Lab Mastermind at , unlearning and relearning skills for the gifting I have been given to share with the world. My legacy, his legacy, my gifting, his gifting.

The good sis Dr. Ajita Robinson stepped on my toes, and she was unapologetic.

Normally I would pull them toes away but, I stayed staked to the ground because that pressure had me standing in my truth.

I get my money's worth from the lab!

When I opened my private practice, I was called to place a cross with a butterfly on my business cards.

The butterfly has a two fold symbolism for me; one for the hope it gave me when Sergio died, and second the reminder that everyday I get to be a new creation. Hence, Live Life Changed.

I shared my life verse on that business card too, II Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation: old things are passed away; behold, all things are made new". KJV. And just above it was a quote that read "if nothing ever changed, there'd be no butterflies"(anonymous).

I was told by an entrepreneurial pastor that I would alienate people from my business.

I didn't care and through the years that message has stayed with me.

Here's the thing... a part of me believed him.

It appears that I have had to confess many things this year and so here goes another confession.

I have been quiet, ALL TOO QUIET about a population that I serve within my private practice and it's been because I've been afraid of being asked for specifics.

You know... people and their curiosities...as if I don't have boundaries or trust myself, pff.

This behavior has not served the population I help, nor does it serve me.

I have realized that the comment shared with me all those years ago has eventually silenced my voice around the Christians that I serve. I didn't want the intersection of my faith and identity to "scare" people away because of how I practice and perceive meaning in the world. AND THAT IS A MAJOR PROBLEM! For me and in this profession. It is NOT okay! My sensitivity to church hurt and religious trauma for those outside of my beliefs was out of balance.

Codeswitching as a Christian means that I am well aware of the environment I am in and who can or cannot handle certain parts of my identity. BUT I cannot be lukewarm any longer.

People know I am a God-girl.

People know me for grief and trauma.

I have had the humble honor of walking alongside amazing teachers, high-visibility athletes, engineers, scientists, and many beautiful souls from all walks of life.

People know that I have a tender heart for mommas who have experienced the death of a child and for women overcoming betrayal trauma.

So ask me why am I worried about rejection and judgment when those who know my heart, know my integrity, understand my ethics, and know that I am not a "Bible thumper" in my practice unless thumping is what is asked for?

FFFFFFFFear!

But the sub-niches that make up the majority of my practice are suffering.

They are worried that if others find out that they struggle with life experiences, mental well-being, betrayal trauma, unforgiveness, anxiety, or depression, they will be "found out" and put on blast. No one wants to be on the 5 o'clock news unless its intentional.

Judgment and gossip is a good reason to stay silent, but the soul decays with the cost of not being seen or heard in the sacred space for healing.

The forgotten and overlooked first responders are dying by su***de, numbing out with addictive behaviors, and the infestation of their wounds spills out to the people they serve.

Some have gotten better at working through the stigma of seeking help and are vocal on their platforms about the therapy they receive.

BUT it is not enough!

So today, as I step into a family celebration of birthdays and prepare for my 54th orbit around the sun, I will reintroduce myself.

Hello, my name is Diane Diaz; you may call me Dee Dee.

I am a servant leader. I help the forgotten and overlooked first responders; therapists, and pastoral leadership who work day in and day out with loss, grief and betrayal trauma to build trust, hone effectiveness, and disrupt the status quo by decreasing burnout, improving mental health, and developing emotionally healthy leaders in the workplace.

I am a leadership wellness expert, and your grief and trauma mental health consultant.

Share the word!

07/15/2024

14 to 54.

Do better.

Two words that a sister friend said to me as I was heading home from the summit and she was not wrong.

Wednesday I felt a twinge in my neck. It felt like I slept wrong. So I chucked it up to that. Thursday the discomfort grew by Friday Advil and Tylenol were barely giving me relief.

The “strong” BIPOC woman that I am, I told myself I would be okay. I had my muscle relaxers but they knock me out and this summit was too good to miss a minute.

I managed to hang in until 4pm on Friday.

The cost?

I have been stuck in my pain right now.

Fibromyalgia stinks.

Muscle relaxers, pain killers, ice, heat, and a tense unit is releasing things ever so slowly.

So today can we normalize “doing better”?

It’s been forever since I’ve reached this level of pain and I have to be honest, I took it for granted.

Self-care is a MUST!

Self-care is mental health care.

Self-care is spiritual and emotional care.

Self-care is self love and compassion.

It is an honoring of my body and the limitations it has.

and when I forget to be kind to myself and live within my needs, my body reminds me in the most inconvenient ways.

Photo credit to the amazing Latoya Henderson Photography 💕

07/12/2024

Applications for the 3rd Annual Grief Wellness Therapy Symposium will be available by the end of the month.

If you are interested in being a possible speaker, slide into my dm’s, and an application will be sent your way once it is available.

If you have a friend who may be a good fit, send them my way. Share and like this post, help me get the word out.

Let’s see who is a good fit for this.

This is a boundless and international experience. If you are an expert in your field, have gifting to share, have a following, and are ready to help expand and edify our field, I want to hear from you.

07/09/2024

Woke up before the alarm to this beautifully painted sky and just laid here watching the colors change. It’s a good day to have a good day!