How full-time RV-ing is helping me learn to be flexible
I am a type A person. On good days, these traits make me organized and on top of things. On bad days, they make me controlling and unable to cope well with change. Usually, that means planning my life in a way that it is more-or-less predictable. In part, hitting the road was part of a plan to gently push myself towards being okay with the unfamiliar. Here’s how full-time RV-ing has helped me learn to be flexible…
The 3 tricks to staying positive in a negative world
It’s so easy to be discontent with our bodies, our possessions, our lives; stepping back and realizing exactly how many amazing positives there are in each and every one of our lives is a huge step toward having a healthy mind and a happy life.
Here’s how I do it…
How I faced my fear of the dentist: If it works for me (and cats) it can work for you
I’m not just afraid of the dentist. More accurately, I have a “shut down completely, cry when I even THINK about going, prescription drugs are not enough to calm me, once made a dentist too upset to continue working on my mouth, trauma response-level” fear of the dentist. Until this past year, I hadn’t been to the dentist in almost 10 years!
I was recently talking to a friend, who also has a fear of the dentist, and she asked how I conquered my fear and went to the dentist, not once but THREE times this past year. My answer was that I did NOT conquer my fear, but I did do this…
Locate and log your joy: How tracking positivity can help with depression
From therapy I learned how powerful positive self-talk and mantras can be, but only if they are a constant part of your self-care routine. I already kept a journal to help let go of my haphazard thoughts, so I decided to add a few sentences each day to document the positive parts of my day. Ultimately, finding the positive in every day wasn’t as easy as I had anticipated, but I pushed through and gained both a powerful new perspective on my life and some solid coping mechanisms that I could put into place…
How do you know when you’re being different for the sake of being different?
In my quest to be authentic to myself, I have to wonder — whether it’s something as major as changing faiths, or something as minor as choosing a hairstyle — how do you know when you’re being different for the sake of being a “special snowflake” and how do you know when you’re just being you? And more importantly, does it matter?
Unexpected self-actualization from parenting: How my baby forces me to do things that are good for me
I’m new at this whole parent thing. Though I read about it and listened to other parents for years, I’ve been surprised by parenthood’s unusual joys. Your baby lighting up at the sight of your face is heart-expanding, but I expected it would be. What has surprised me is not the love that I feel, but the way such a tiny creature forces me to do the things that are good for me — the unexpected self-actualization from parenting…
25 body-positive and feminist New Year’s resolutions
With so many companies trying to seasonally body-shame us into buying their products, while promoting the marginalization of minorities using New Year’s resolutions as a catalyst, how can we stay positive this New Year? I’ve compiled a list of positive New Year’s resolutions that are either feminist, body-positive or all about essential self-care. Enjoy!
How hockey helped me heal from an abusive relationship
I was almost five years into an abusive relationship, and at best, I was bereft of both self-esteem and hope. The good news is that a month and a half later, I finally got up enough courage to leave. At the time, I thought it was a temporary measure to help him realize that what he was doing was wrong. But it turned into a journey of recovery and self-discovery that I’m still taking today. None of it has been easy, but a lot of that journey has been aided by playing hockey…