Are you ready for this? Here’s what really happens …
I love the early morning quiet of a weekend to myself. I’m a single mother. I don’t get a lot of quiet mornings. I have a different kind of appreciation for a morning with my children, but quiet mornings on my own are savored — especially when it’s early enough…
Here’s the ugly truth no one is talking about
I have nightmares almost every night. I’ve had them since I started working on past trauma in therapy. No one tells you about this when you start. To be fair, my therapist warned me that it could have an emotional impact, but I didn’t know this was what she meant…
I’ve never considered myself fearful.
Even as a child, I was borderline reckless with my bravery. There was no tree I was afraid to climb or height I was afraid to go to. If someone told me I couldn’t do something, I was definitely going to try to do…
You are not your trauma — or are you?
I found myself in psychotherapy for the second time in my life after I struggled for months with depression, anxiety, and recurrent suicide ideation. I had done everything I could on my own. I’d tried every coping skill, reached for every resource I knew, and yet I could go no…
They’ll tell you there’s nothing you can do; they’re wrong though
There’s nothing you can do.
I kept telling myself this when I wrestled with whether or not to drive up to see my grandmother as she reached the end of her life. I knew she was actively dying, and it was only a matter of time.
How much — we…
Are you 100% that witch?
In the words of Lizzo-meets-an-Internet-meme, I am 100% that witch.
I think I speak for everyone when I say that 2020–2021 has been the longest six years of our lives. At least, it certainly feels that way. …
When society’s scripted grieving ritual fails to offer comfort
Grief catches us when we least expect it. We answer the phone without knowing the news we’ll receive on the other end. We walk into rooms never expecting what we’ll be told. Loss comes for us, and there is no place to hide.
My first instinct in every major loss…
Be curious, not judgmental. ~Ted Lasso
My capacity for spin is legendary. It’s a coping skill I can appreciate from the outside looking in. I could take any setback and turn it into forward progress. A tough childhood became a hero’s origin story. Bad relationships evolved into lessons intended for future growth. …
And how to choose connection in conflict
We think we can protect ourselves from hurt if we just try hard enough. Even knowing better, our sense of self-preservation can be overwhelmingly strong. I had layers of self-protection before I ever met my first boyfriend. My default setting was an expectation of disappointment and abandonment in relationships. …
A poem
Bare feet on sidewalk
Silent steps
The moon above with slyest smile
Watches the path diverge
With a knowing air
And decides to stay to watch awhile
Bare feet step slowly
Through the cool, soft grass
A whisper caress against bare skin
A flower blooms
Scent but not seen
Leaves fall down
In joyous dash…
