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Blog
Enjoy mental health musings, insights, tips and tools for this wild ride we call life.
Thanks for being here!
![Where Do You Go When You're Triggered?](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5eb223bd130a7a67ee3b5a07/1707623237509-HY1AC5DQV3BRBJ2MGL54/14.png)
Where Do You Go When You're Triggered?
Where do you go when you get triggered? How do deep feelings show up in your life? Do you get sad? Do you shut down and feel numb? Do you feel rage in the depths of soul? Do you get scared or frightened? Do you feel like you don’t belong and that nobody will ever understand?
![Let's Talk about Talking: Part III](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5eb223bd130a7a67ee3b5a07/1707623191096-6SZBHPWWMOW85RVBEM6M/13.png)
Let's Talk about Talking: Part III
In the last two blog posts, Let’s Talk about Talking Parts I & II, we discussed a variety of nuanced components of communication that are important to understand for clear expression. Now, we will walk through a hands-on model to use when expressing yourself to someone else.
![Let's Talk about Talking: Part II](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5eb223bd130a7a67ee3b5a07/1707623132518-BZRP3QZCAIPHIZG7VHTW/15.png)
Let's Talk about Talking: Part II
I learned, we all tell ourselves stories, in our head, that are often not true. So keep asking yourself, “What is the story I am telling myself?” and watch how seamlessly your awareness of yourself, your thoughts and your emotions start to shift.
![Let's Talk about Talking: Part 1](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5eb223bd130a7a67ee3b5a07/1707623110390-H9OA3P0ZZPRVM2XU205C/16.png)
Let's Talk about Talking: Part 1
Communication. We chat with checker at the grocery store, we discuss our life with our best friend, we connect with our partner, we teach our children, we email our boss and we form new relationships with clients. In a way, communication is life. So why do so many people feel like they don’t know how to do it?!
![Alone Time](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5eb223bd130a7a67ee3b5a07/1707623091061-9U3W3YUHXV6SLOWU0QW9/17.png)
Alone Time
When I heard my roommate was leaving on a 4 day trip I looked forward to her departure with bated breath. It had been a long time since I was able to hang out in my own home, listening to silence, not using my voice and just being me.
![Balloons In Your Backpack](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5eb223bd130a7a67ee3b5a07/1707623073328-73Q4Y79QC6NWVRPIHDFC/18.png)
Balloons In Your Backpack
There are other objects in your backpack that do take up space, but they are light and airy like colorful, happy balloons. These balloons are collected throughout life based on positive experiences. Do not discount the value of these balloons as these are the most important items you possess; they lift you up and out of the shadows of the heavy boulders and help carry you through life.
![Rocks in Your Backpacks](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5eb223bd130a7a67ee3b5a07/1707623052032-06HTSBLIRV4DEQV6GNRX/20.png)
Rocks in Your Backpacks
Imagine that we’re all born with a backpack on. Not your typical Jansport or your cute fashionable mini backpack, but an invisible backpack.
![Inner Critic: Friend or Foe?](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5eb223bd130a7a67ee3b5a07/1707623028882-UHS3BBVA8HXVJ59FTBO7/19.png)
Inner Critic: Friend or Foe?
These are just a few of the *lovely* thoughts that my inner critic tells me sometimes. Over the years since I have gotten to my critic, our relationship has gone from one of hate, fear and anger to one of understanding and love.
![Healing Emotional Wounds Requires TLC](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5eb223bd130a7a67ee3b5a07/1588881356191-12DO6PR99NGUMX2ELP1R/image-asset.jpeg)
Healing Emotional Wounds Requires TLC
I used to think that healing was this nebulous thing. An unknown and unattainable concept that other people understood, but not me. I mean, how do you know when you’ve healed something emotional? It’s not like you can take off the band-aid and see the physical proof!
![So, I guess I am writing a book?](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5eb223bd130a7a67ee3b5a07/1588745045987-BB5PQLCHZ0JN8OVMK0WW/image-asset.jpeg)
So, I guess I am writing a book?
One of my greatest coping tools throughout childhood was writing. It felt, at times, as if my sheer survival depended on my ability to escape into my room, put pen to paper and scribble out words, phrases, pictures, and poems. I documented my thoughts, my habits, endless lists, streams of consciousness, and sporadic trains of thoughts that change route mid-sentence.