Hi

[ShalomSeeker]

Hi, this is my first time to do an online forum. Wasn't sure where else to go, and found this via the Joyful Heart Foundation website. I'm Geny...and hoping this proves helpful. The faces are cute!

[dodo]

Hi and welcome to AS

best wishes

karen

[Butterfly33]

I'm also new and very nervous. I guess we should just look around. I have a good feeling that this site will be helpful to us. It's been a very long road for me and I'm ready to face and understand this.

[Fawn]

Hi ShalomSeeker and Butterfly33 ! Welcome to AS. I hope you find the caring and support that you need here.

If you haven't already done so why don't you think about telling your story (if you can and are ready for that) in the Share Your Story section?

AS is a good place to get information and support and where you know people will understand what you're going through. The more you come on here and people recognize your "name" then the more likely they are to respond to your post. I am not able to be on here as much as I like and have long stretches where I sometimes can't get on and then people don't respond as much but it's still great to see posts that others have done that you can relate to and speak to what's going on in your life.

Hang in there!

[Wishy]

Hello and welcome, both of you Take your time and have a look around, I know the size of AS can seem a bit intimidating at first but you'll soon get used to it. Also there are several 'off topic / light hearted' forums like Simply Life and the Entertainment ones which are good for getting to know other members

[ShalomSeeker]

I admire you for being ready, or able to say you are ready, to face this. I'm not so sure how ready I am, but I figure this is a good place to start.

[sarka]

Welcome! I'm seconding Wishy. Also when I was not yet ready to open up, I spent some time reading other people's posts, and my first few posts were just along the lines of "I had an experience like that too!" After a few posts like that I got up the energy to share the full thing.

[khricz061]

Hi Geny, welcome to AS... ive been here 4 years and ive found it to be extremly helpful.. we dont judge you hear and we all understand to an extent.... welcome!

[ShalomSeeker]

Thank you. I hope to gain strength the more I visit this site.

[Butterfly33]

I've been on a few times today. I have been doing what Sarka did at first. I'm browsing around and reading all different kinds of posts and finding that I can relate to majority of them too. I couldn't find my voice before and/or wasn't ready...i do know that i was VERY confused. It's been 5 years since I divorced my ex husband (who was my abuser) and for the first time I feel good talking about it. Initially I thought because I said it out loud and because I was in therapy that I had "taken care" of the issue. I didn't even see the destructive effect it had on me and reading all the different posts made me realize that there is different levels or phases to this process that I was unaware of. I've been through anger, rage, depression, denial, confusion, scared, insecure and sadness. Sometimes all at once hitting me like an 18 wheeler and making it unbeareable at times. Has anyone experienced losing time? Like gaps in your memory of certain events? Like not knowing where you've been for a matter of time (could be seconds or much longer)?

[ShalomSeeker]

I have...and I haven't even begun my path to where you are. My feelings are just sitting somewhere...it's like I'm numb and don't know what to do. I'll come around, and wonder what just happened or what I did or how long I had been dazed or out of it. All I hear is talk about it and open up...I just don't know how and it's scary. How do you know what is safe?

[Butterfly33]

I've been where you are. Numb. Can't feel a thing but things get better. I also still daze out. I could be staring point blank at something but not actually see it. I'm somewhere else, not here. Where? I don't know...i black out.

[Butterfly33]

You need to learn how to trust all over again. So until you acheive that, you don't feel safe...anywhere.

[Nocturnal]

Shalom, I love your name.

I'm pretty new here as well...I hope this place is helpful to both of us.

[sisterinsurvival]

Hi Geny,

My name is Lynn, and I am a member of the New Member Support Team. I just wanted to take the time to say welcome back to After Silence.

I hope that you find comfort and support here. I am glad that you have joined with us and look forward to getting to know you. If you need anything or have questions about the boards or how something works, please send me a personal message. I will gladly help in any way possible...also if you need someone to listen, let me know.

Take care,

[freak]

Hi Shalom & Butterfly,

I've been on here just over a week & the support has been great. It does take awhile to work out the site but it has given me hope that I can survive. Take care both of you.

Freak x

[ShalomSeeker]

Thank you, Lynn and Nocturnal. I love the word Shalom. I use it often.

[~FOUND~]

Hi there.

Welcome to AS.

I hope you find this site to be helpful.

Found

[Butterfly33]

Thank you everyone for your warm welcomes. I am still figuring this site out but so far I really love it here. It feels like my world (if that makes any sense).?.? I love Shalom too. I come from Israeli/Jewish heritage so you could understand why ;-)

[whimsical1]

welcome to aftersilence.

[Guest LovesLoss]

Welcome to AS!

I hope you find the help and healing you deserve here

Take care

Loves

[Becky]

Welcome to After Silence

I'm glad you found us!

[Butterfly33]

Shalom,

I find that when people tell me to "talk" about it when I've dazed out, the reason I can't is because I have NO clue where I have been (physically or mentally). It's like a black whole in time. Do you feel this too?