Mental Health

Unapologetically Weird Growing up family events put me in a perpetual state of anxiety. My cousins were not my friends. In fact, they barely spoke to me. It made me feel like such an outcast at the time. I remember dreading holidays and only got through them with either a book in my face or with the help of my I-Pod shuffle. I just never fit in. This didn’t follow me into school though, I found my own friend group pretty easily and was happy to spend time with people I related to. As I grow older though, the feeling of being ‘the outcast’ has made its way back into my life. It's not always easy to embrace our uniqueness, especially...

Unresolutions {Part 1} My family lived a ludicrous year 2023. We dealt with 11 months of recurrent-boil-raising MRSA in both our kids (and the attendant dozens of doctors' appointments). Our older son was bullied at school, and we spent almost the entire academic year battling an administration that refused to address the problem, file the appropriate (and legally required) paperwork, or change his classroom environment. We had put our mortgage in forbearance, not knowing that would mean having to pay back a 5-digit amount all at once at the end of that period despite the mortgage company's casual assurances. A child brought a weapon to our older son's school, and the school administration neglected to inform the parents for over 2...

Lessons Learned Through A Year Of Grief 2023 will always be the year that my mom passed away. I’ve never experienced a loss as great as this, and I’ve never experienced this level of grief. Although 2023 was the hardest year of my life, through this first year of grieving my mother's passing, I have actually grown and learned so much. Lesson #1: I am stronger than I thought. The mere thought of losing my mom seemed unbearable. I figured I would be inconsolable and not be able to go on with my life. But once I was faced with the reality of her death, the opposite was true. I was able to plan a beautiful service for my mother. I was able...

5 Post-Christmas Traditions To Start This Year The gifts have been opened, the cookies baked and the bells jingled. Christmas is over and the New Year is just a week away. What to do now? Here are five ideas for post-Christmas / pre-New Year traditions to end your year and start the new one off on the right foot. Review/reflect on the past year and set goals or a mission plan for next year. Take some time for yourself and review your year. This can be done in one sitting, or as a week long project. There are great, free online options to help guide you through your year in review. Check out this for a workbook and word of the...

To The Daughter Of A Mom With Mental Illness… It’s with utmost sincerity that I write to you, daughter of a mom with mental illness. With genuine and heartfelt empathy, I pen this article in hopes of helping you know that you are not alone, and your worth is far more valuable than you were raised to believe. What you have experienced growing up as a child of a mother who had mental struggles is awful, and it is not uncommon for your sense of trust, self-worth, and reality to be distorted as you have grown. But it doesn’t have to be an indicator of your own future relationships and family. How do you know if you’re the daughter of a...