Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Janna Kingston (CNS) in Holodeck 2- Therapy in Unusual Places Day 1, Part 2

Posted by Ensign Viyara Nazeen (Scientist) in Holodeck 2- Therapy in Unusual Places Day 1, Part 2

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Janna Kingston (CNS) in Holodeck 2- Therapy in Unusual Places Day 1, Part 2
Posted by… suppressed (2) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)

“I know,” Kingston said softly. “I get it more than others will, but at the and of the day the people who grow the most are the ones that do something every day that scares them, even if it’s small. So instead of thinking about being suddenly different than you are, Viyara, ask yourself each morning when you wake up: what’s one small thing I can do to be more open, to be kinder to myself and to be more present in my own life? One thing, each day, that’s all it takes.”

“One thing, huh?” Viyara replied thoughtfully, her gaze still fixed at the sky as she thought about that.

Pushing herself to her feet, Janna gestured. “Come on, we have the rest of an assessment to complete and I still want my coffee,” she said with a grin.

After untangling her legs, Viyara rose gracefully to her feet and then walked over to pick up her things and put them back into her backpack. Looking at Janna with a slightly lopsided grin, she said, “I think there is still coffee in the thermos, if you don’t want to wait.”

“Walking and drinking is a bad idea for me,” Janna said with a wink and a grin. And while she was perfectly safe, it was one of those things that Janna was just generally mindful of. If she wasn’t mindful in a safe place, she was going to be in deep trouble when it was less safe.

Back at the cottage, Janna moved right to the kitchen and starting making another carafe of coffee while munching on bites of a quinoa salad. “Let’s settle in at the dining table and get comfy. We’ll be there for a bit.”

~Janna Kingston, CNS

“Okay,” VIyara nodded as she slipped out of her shoes. Settling down at the dinning table, she placed her backpack on the floor right next to her chair and pulled her notebook back out, but kept it closed for now. She thought about getting something to eat as well, but found that she wasn’t feeling hungry. Despite the fact that she had eaten relatively little all day while working out a lot. But right now she felt too nervous and queasy to be able to to eat, if if she were hungry.

Looking towards Janna, she asked, “So how is this assessment going to go? I assume you’re going to ask me more questions?” There was a small frown on her pale face and her shoulders were pulled slightly forward.

~Viyara Nazeen

Janna nodded. “I know, it’s going to suck. Honestly? It’s going to be kind of boring. A lot of yes or no questions, or ones where you answer on a scale. We’ll work through all of it and that coupled with the other things I already know will give me hopefully the information I need to complete the assessment. Once that’s done, we work on coping skills and if all goes well we’re outta here after that.” She didn’t make promises, but it was important that Viyara understood the likely path their time here would take. It was morphing as they went along but that was all a part of the process.

Her coffee finished brewing a few minutes later and Janna poured herself a cup and joined Viyara at the table. She had already grabbed a couple PADDs, plus the notebook she had been writing in earlier along with a regular pen and a electronic stylus. “Alright, deep breath for both of us. Let’s do this.” And then Janna began asking questions, noting the responses on her PADD. Occasionally she’d pause to write a note in the notebook, and then she’d continue, taking bites here and there so she had a healthy meal too.

---

After eighty minutes of seemingly endless questions, Janna took the PADD and set it aside. She gazed at Viyara and smiled softly. “I don’t know about you, but I’m tired. And I think we could both use some downtime. There’s a bathtub. Feel free to take a long bath if you like. Or whatever else might come to mind. We’ll have to replicate nightclothes but eh, it’s the holodeck. Done in a flash.”

~Janna Kingston, CNS

Rubbing her forehead with her left hand, Viyara nodded some. In a way she felt tired and exhausted, but also on edge and restless. “I think I need to do something. Something physical where I’m not sitting,” she replied as she pushed herself to her feet. “Is that okay?” It felt a little awkward to ask for permission. It was something she hadn’t done in a very long time. But she also didn’t want to just get up, leave and do whatever she wanted.

~Viyara Nazeen

Janna nodded. “Go for a walk or whatever and do what you need to. But… boundaries Viyara. Doing something physical, and even demanding on our body is perfectly healthy, but when you feel inclined to do something more risky, ask yourself why? Am I bored? Am I avoiding something? Avoiding feelings? Check your motivations first before you do anything you know is more risky, perhaps unnecessarily so. Save the risk taking for training,” she said with a wink.

~Janna Kingston, CNS

“I will. Promise. Thank you Janna,” Viyara said with a nod. Taking her notebook, she made her way towards the door, put her shoes back on and then left the cottage. She didn’t feel like doing anything risky, but the urge to simply move. So she started down the road, first at a quick pace, but soon she was running without making the conscious decision to do so. If someone had asked her she wouldn’t even have been able to say why she was running. It just felt like what she needed to do in that moment.

After about forty minutes Viyara arrived at the cottage again. Her face slightly flushed and sweat trickling down her face and back. But the unease and restlessness were gone. A relaxed smile even played across her face and some of the tension that had never left her body entirely for a while now seemed to be gone. At least for the time being. Walking into the cottage, she peered around to see if Janna was still awake and in the living room or kitchen.

~Viyara Nazeen