Kick Fear to the Curb –DAY 5

My boyfriend has to work late tonight and won’t be able to take me out for dinner. He won’t even be able to get to his home until past 11PM. Ding. Ding. Ding. Red Flag. Red Flag. 

My fear of being cheated on was screaming, “What? Are you sure you are working?”  

Don’t get me wrong. He has never cheated on me, but my fears put negative thoughts in my head.  He is a great boyfriend and treats me very well.

What I did the minute I heard the news that he will be “working late”, I turned on the radio to KLOVE and soaked in the worship music to drown out the bad thoughts.

This piece shows a little girl screaming, “forget about it”! Forget about the bad thoughts because Apostle Paul tells us to think of good thoughts.  

Philippians 4:8  “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things.”

I thought of photography, I thought of erasing the bad thoughts and thought of all the good things my boyfriend has done for me. He’s a great guy and I am happy to be with him.

Next time you have negative thoughts, ask yourself if this is true and think of only good and noble things.

Written to bless you by Linh Dang {Photographer, Artist, Writer}

Founder of FreedomCollage

Kick Fear to the Curb –DAY 4

Today, I am stumped.  I saw a film called “2012 Obama’s America”. I fear for our Nation. I did not create a collage today, instead, I prayed for God to bring the right President who cares about America.

If you have seen this film, please comment what you think. Whether good or bad, I want to hear from both sides.

Thanks. 

Kick Fear to the Curb –DAY 3

I have this fear of Rejection. When it comes to relationships, I am afraid of being hurt, so instead of kicking my fear to the curb, I kick the guy, the friend, the colleague to the curb and not face the obstacle head-on.

What does that mean to me? It means that I am afraid to share what I really think. What I really want. I’m afraid the person won’t like me for who I am if he/she knew how I really think. I have random thoughts from my childhood that are dark and soul-sucking. If people knew my childhood, they would be astonished that I didn’t grow up to become a drug addict or a prostitute. I was the lucky few, because I discovered Jesus.

Today, during my kickboxing class, I imagined myself kicking fear in the face. Punch. Punch. Punch. Left hook, right hook. Kick. Kick. It felt so good. I began to laugh hysterically.

How did I get to this point? This Sunday, at church, we learned about Flagging.  Caleb Brundidge taught us on worship and flagging for the Lord. My heart, mine and body were filled with God’s love that I had no worries, no fear of being rejected by anyone. 1 John 4:18, There is no fear in love. But perfect love drive out fear. God’s perfect love drove out my fear of rejection.

When I learned how to flag, I sweated, I felt free, I felt I was giving myself up to God as a sacrifice.  Once I gave over to God, there was nothing left to fear, because my life is no longer my own. So when I went into the kickboxing studio, I had the courage to visualize my fear of rejection and punched it until I had nothing left.  I know, it sounds like of violent, but FEAR is not from God. It’s from the enemy and our job is to kick the enemy down before he takes us down.

This collage has the fire of hell flowing through darkness. If we keep ourselves in fear, we will stay in the dark. But because of Jesus, I turned into a butterfly, a symbol for hope. There is hope in my life as long as I have God.

Written to bless you by Linh Dang {Photographer, Artist, Writer}
Founder of FreedomCollage

Kick Fear to the Curb –DAY 2

Another way of facing your fear is by putting yourself where you can practice overcoming it.  One of my fears is being vulnerable.  I am afraid to let people in because they will see my dysfunction and all the baggage –even if they are packed colorfully and neatly.

I face my fear of vulnerability by allowing people to open the suitcase. But I do it one at a time, small suitcase first – of course. When you open one baggage and the person doesn’t run away, you feel a little safer to give them another to open. Then next thing you’ll know, all the suitcases are open and the truth of your past, who you are, it is out in the open and you have nothing to hide. Fears live in the dark, when you bring it to the light, it can’t survive.

Work on your next collage and let go of the fear. It’s like peeling one layer of an onion at a time until it’s all gone.

With this collage below, I cut up a perfect picture of a young girl into smaller pieces. This represents my inner self- a little girl.  The World can be curl and will cut you down to pieces. If you noticed the face below, the nose is missing, the hair and ears are missing. This is me putting myself back together the best I can. I am not completely whole, but I am not hideous either. The lamppost represents the light I carry - the Bible and my love for God. Notice how colorful the background and luggage are? Though life can through you curve-balls, you can still make that home run with joy in your heart.

Written to bless you by Linh Dang {Photographer, Artist, Writer}
Founder of FreedomCollage

Kick Fear to the Curb -DAY 1

Using FreedomCollage to build courage and confidence.

FreedomCollage is simple. It’s a process using found images in magazines and old books that call to your soul and spirit.  There is healing putting the images together to tell a story or to show you your fears.  Once you know your fears, you can face it and kick it to the curb. A new sense of freedom will surely fall on you. Part of overcoming fear, you need to put your focus on things that are good and positive.

The worse kinds of fear is not fear from without, but fear from within. FreedomCollage is to help overcome the fear from within. It was created for inner healing.

Start by making a list of what you are afraid of. Some people have the fear of being alone, being without a boyfriend. Some are afraid of disappointing their parents. Some are afraid of failure. What are you afraid of? Make a list and pick the one fear you would like to work on first. I have the fear of rejection, of failure, of public speaking.

The FreedomCollage I worked on today was a simple one. I want to kick my fear of public speaking. When it comes to public speaking, I am afraid people will think I am stupid because I might not stand tall, or say the right thing at the right time.

Everyday, I will create a FreedomCollage on fears I want to kick or dreams I want to come true.  I will share my process and my discovery.  I hope you will leave comments with your self-discovery, too.

Supplies Needed:

Scissors

Cardboard/Paper

Glue

Images from magazines

Encouraging words or verses from Bible

I am a visual person, so besides praying, seeing the words and pictures help me as well.

Below is my FreedomCollage for kicking my fear of public speaking.  I found words of encouragement from magazines and other images I thought suit my needs. Let you spirit guide you as to where you should place the images and words. It is healing when you allow yourself to be in control and free to let go of your fear.

 

2 Timothy 1:7

For God did not give us a spirit of fear, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.

Written to bless you by Linh Dang {Photographer, Artist, Writer}
Founder of FreedomCollage