For most of my adult life, I’ve fantasized about being a writer. I would find myself in my head scripting something that just happened, something that was about to happen or something that I wish would happen. I would “write” in the shower and while driving. I would find myself staring off into the distance writing a love letter about my kids or a story about my anxiety. I would write about things that made me angry or things that made me sad. I worked really hard on one piece that I called “The Casserole” about what happens when people…

I’m a woman and therefore I was born with this innate duty to feel insecure. It wasn’t that long ago that women were executed for having an opinion. Some women were so oppressed that they got their hands chopped off if they were ever found writing something down. It’s not that my parents or upbringing made me feel inadequate. It’s just the overflow of information making me feel insecure about my body, my diet, my decisions, my parenting, my work and especially my truth.

I’ve done my work to overcome this. Therapy, counseling, self help, journaling, meditating, running, b vitamins…

I know I know. Everyone talks about journaling, how great it is, why you should do it, and that it’s life changing. I first started journaling when I read May Cause Miracles and did the 30-day challenge with Gabby Bernstein. Before that my only experience with journaling was writing in my diary as a child or writing out angry letters to ex-boyfriends that I would never send. I’ve gotta be honest at first, I was like where’s my pen? I don’t really have any paper nearby. I’d rather just skip this part. I will learn all of this without writing…

In February of 2020 life was good. I was seeing a Life Coach (in person), deepening my meditation practice, journaling every morning, reading and learning new skills, praying daily, eating healthy, and exercising. It’s a lot I know, but in order for me to maintain a level of stability with my anxiety, it takes work. Habits were formed and I felt pretty good in my ability to carry out these coping skills to grow and stay healthy. …

Thinking about quitting drinking? I get it. I did too. Almost daily for a long time. I would think about quitting drinking, google whether or not I was an alcoholic, think about all the consequences that I thought would be associated with quitting, and then go right back to drinking-resigning to the fact that I was just not the “kind of person” that would live a sober lifestyle.

What I’ve learned from other sober people is that they kind of did the same thing. Change is hard (even harder if there’s a chemical involved making you think that you need…

Thinking of giving up alcohol? Trying Sober October? Today, I feel excited to share 5 things that helped me stop drinking!

1. Mindset. If I’m being honest, when I quit alcohol on September 17, 2017 it wasn’t my first attempt. I had tried to quit drinking on several occasions. I never really came out and said “I think I need to quit drinking.” Instead, I would hide it under some kind of diet or cleanse. I attempted to diet and eliminate alcohol as a form of punishment while white knuckling and hating every minute of it. Those attempts all failed and…

As I write this, my 6-year-old daughter is looking into a compact mirror pretending that she got “103 views” on the fake video she just “posted.” This is extremely ironic since I watched The Social Dilemma yesterday and spent most of last night awake feeling highly concerned for our world. This behavior likely came from a combination of watching me stare at my phone (humiliating to actually write that) and a show that she watches (ahem…used to watch because I plan to ban it from her viewing) where the girl character talks about her social media accounts.

In 2013, my…

I don’t know who needs to hear this but that tension you’re feeling in your chest is probably anxiety. Over the last 6 months, there have been more downs than ups. All of the stress has been building and building with no real relief in sight. I’ve had many moods, tons of worries, and have been disappointed as I hoped that the tension would lift, at least at some point. I’ve wandered around my house looking for coping skills in everything from the kitchen cabinets, the deep freezer, and distractions galore. I recently read this great article describing why things…