As soon as Halloween jack-o-lanterns and Freddy Kreuger costumes reappear and fade away, retail stores whip out giant inflatable Santas, orange, brown, and red turkey decorations, and cornucopias. Kids are making those hand-drawn turkeys in school and wearing construction paper pilgrim hats. The leaves are gone, and snow might be on the ground (except in most of the South). For most, these sights bring a small rush of, “Yes! It’s the holidays!!!” For others, myself and millions of retail workers included, it’s a feeling of dread. “Crap, it’s the holidays.” The time that’s supposed to be ...
family
My Deepest Insecurities: Iris, Warts and All
Today’s blog post is going to be a little different. Since a healing journey is ongoing, there is always something to new to work on and process. Today’s subject? Insecurities. We’re all plagued by them, and we’re usually insecure about something that is completely beyond our control. It could be our height, the way our voice sounds, or the way our head is shaped. We can also be insecure about our relationships (not just romantic, but platonic and familial, too), our job performance, and even where we are in life. In this blog post, I’m going to do something that scares me a little: ...
A New Month of Gratitude
It’s September, look at that! Remember when March took two months to pass? The rest of the year sprinted by to make up for it, I guess. It’s only a few months until a new year starts. I think we’re all ready and waiting for that. My affirmation from last Sunday, I accept and release everything in my life that is beyond my power to change, ran through my mind many times. I released a Breakup Journal and went to a wedding. I honestly don’t think I would have been capable of either thing had I not let go of the almost unending waves of pain and sadness that followed my ended engagement. It ...
Trying to cope during the pandemic
When stories about the coronavirus made the news, I figured it wasn’t going to be that big of a deal. I thought it would be like the time the Ebola virus scared the crap out of everyone a few years ago. I remember everyone calling it, “Dat ‘bola” and joking around about it. Corona on the other hand… when I tell you I was wrong… *sighs*. Lord, I was wrong. Suddenly everyone was calling it “the ‘Rona”, and it was here in the U.S. spreading quickly. As an introvert, I actually benefit greatly from the strict quarantine back in April and May. On a selfish level, I enjoyed the new “normal” ...
Weekly Affirmation 2
Happy Sunday! Ready to start this next week with positive intentions, self-compassion, and love? Good, I am, too! Let’s start with gratitude for this past week. One good thing that happened to me this week… I got in contact with an old friend from Fort Walton Beach. He and I fell out of touch when I moved to Guam because I stopped using social media for my own well-being. I really hated how it made me feel. It was nice to spend an hour catching up and congratulating each other’s progress and listening to each other’s problems. It’s always nice to have a good heart to heart. This week I ...
My new milestones
During my trip to the Bahamas, I dug deep and figured out what was important to me. I felt left behind in life's Important Milestones: going to college directly after high school, finding a career, finding a spouse, starting a family, and so on and so forth. I became unhappy and discouraged with my life. I felt like I was doing something wrong, and that I'd never catch up. During and after college, I scrolled through many friends, acquaintances, and strangers flashing their engagement rings with their fiancé looking adoringly at them. It was a daily occurrence of seeing other lives ...