Author: Sara Crosby

Over the years, I’ve worn plenty of hats. I earned a BFA in Theatre from Stephens College in 1976, then spent about ten years chasing an acting career in NYC. But I eventually realized that what really drives me is understanding what motivates human behavior. So, I went back to school and got an MSW from Loyola University of Chicago. For the past 40 years, I’ve been a psychotherapist, public speaker, social justice advocate, and a SMART Recovery Family and Friends group facilitator. I also started a non-profit for youth in the arts, which is now in its 25th year. My three kids have long since grown up and started their own paths. Now, having recently retired, I’m learning to embrace myself in all my “Elder” glory as I step into the third act of my life.

#1 There is a Space

“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”
-Viktor E. Frankl

Recently, I saw this quote of Frankl’s again and it captured my attention in a way that put a few more pieces of the puzzle together for me. It was suddenly vividly clear in a way that I had never really been able to articulate, that all I have been, done, survived, thrived, failed or succeeded at, the wisdom I have gained, and all I have learned about myself, others, and well, really, this entire journey, can be traced back to that space Frankl refers to. A space where we all can find the power and freedom to choose our response, our actions and reactions to the world around us.

We get to choose.

This is where we find our belonging to ourselves and therefore, knowledge and freedom. This is the place from where our journeys unfold, choice after choice after choice, where we actually have some control over this crazy thing called life.

Right now I get to choose. I am scared of exposing myself in a way I never have before. Just the idea of sharing my truths, my thoughts, my stories leaves me feeling exposed and vulnerable. I ask myself, why would I be so bold as to think that I would have something to offer the blogging world that others might be inspired by? I have worn so many hats in my lifetime, from which of those perspectives should I write? But when I pause and breath, I realize that I am in control of my reactions and actions of how others will respond.

I get to choose.

I get to choose what I wish to own and what I will let go of. That is, after all, what Frankl’s space is. A powerful moment in time where one gets to pause and decide how to respond. So, while writing this blog I will try to embrace the opportunity to practice pausing in this space and making conscious choices of how I want to respond to the world outside myself.

It is my intention that this blog will be a place to explore beliefs that can dictate our responses, and, in turn, the stories those responses create, and hopefully some wisdom and growth along the way. I have worn many hats and will share perspectives from many of them. My perspective may change as I share stories as a mother of an adult child with addiction, of twins and a singleton, as a social worker, as a woman moving into her senior years, or any of the many other roles I have lived. The one thing I will try to keep consistent is to write from a place of brave honesty, and of the truth that has come from my freedom to choose.

I invite you to join me on this journey, this exploration of choice, of owning your power to choose within The Space In-Between and see where it might take us.