Mental Health

I was that girl. The one people gazed upon with pity. "Why is she still with him?" they would whisper. "She could do so much better." I secretly carried the same thoughts, though I couldn't bring myself to take that step towards the door. Years of my life spent dedicated to someone who didn't value my worth. Memories of milestones tainted with heartache and low self-esteem. Though many young women typically go through a time of self-discovery, this wasn't your typical coming into your own skin kind of story. The emotional abuse I endured by remaining in a toxic partnership tarnished my expectations of relationships. Who would have thought a teenage romance could be so poignant? Over half a decade of lies...

Dancing and 20 Minutes of Action I was 18 years old. Most people had gone home or to the beach for spring break. I went to Tigerland. I was a partier and a typical freshman. I drank. I flirted. I danced. I showed up to class when I wanted to. That night no one found me by a dumpster while a man was forcing himself on me. I woke up alone, on a bed at a friend of a friend’s house. I walked out of the apartment, stepping over passed out undergrads. I hobbled as I put on my boots. I was sore. Why was I so sore? What happened last night? The days that followed were a blur but came...

The first thing you need to know about me is that I’m a secret introvert. I use the word secret because, from a casual observer’s point of view, I’m anything but. I spend my days bouncing in front of a gaggle of high school students, ranting at the top of my lungs about U.S. History and Government. I have to fight against the little glowing black box that they sit in front of for their attention, and I lose more battles than I win. Then I meet the sunset with my trusty Canon DSLR and act like a monkey clanging symbols so a family with toddlers can be photographed. Finally, I go home where I weave in and out...

As we roll into 2020, gear up for Mardi Gras and a new decade, I have made the decision to stop checking out via social media. I spent too much time on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter as a way to get through 2019. While it’s not a new me, I am hoping to bring an improved version of me into 2020 and beyond. Delete…. I realized that I was not as present as I wanted to be when it came to spending time with the kids and the husband. Facebook got a lot of scrolling out of me in 2019, so it was the first app I deleted on my phone. I now check Facebook one to two times a day...

A question was posed to me recently: Why are you filling every waking moment with a task? Outside of being obsessed with crossing things off my to-do list once accomplished, I couldn’t answer that question. Newsflash: You are not a bad mother or wife if every waking second is not filled with some task or chore to complete. I could delve into the psychology behind this, but I won’t. I will say this – I quickly realized that my husband and children aren’t going to end up unhappy, unfulfilled or in therapy because I didn’t fold a load of clothes at night instead of spending time with them. They will, however, remember that I didn’t spend time with them because I...