A very serious montage of what my face looks like when I take a selfie. It is an art form I am certain.
Selfie Face
Emmaus has been my shadow today- even thought she can’t tell me with words I know she missed me and is glad to have me home. I missed her too. But dang it was good to sleep ALL NIGHT without being knee’d in the kidneys! 🤣
#specialneedamom #autism #epilepsy #lowverbal #tuberoussclerosiscomplex #cureTSC #communityovercompetition #specialneeds #wonderfullymade
Perspective is a really interesting thing. Our life experiences, personalities and values all play into how we see the world and how we move around within it.
It’s beautiful and HARD to see things from someone else’s angle. But man- sometimes when we step out of our own line of sight really cool things can happen.
Thankful for this realization this morning, and a beautiful view that isn’t my typical perspective on a sunrise.
#communityovercompetition #perspective #selfgrowth #enneagram8 #enneagram #sunrise #raisingasisterhood #specialneedsmom #skincare #bossbabe #entrepreneur
This space is for all of us. It’s where I want to share my life. A place for you to come and feel less alone. It won’t be a cultivated space, but it will be real one. It might sometimes feel uncomfortable because life is hard- and so so good.
I am learning everyday and want to reflect with and learn from you too.
#communityovercompetition #enneagram #enneagram8 #enneagram9 #womenleaders #specialneedsmom #momboss #enneagram6 #warriormama #leadership #publicspeaking #livelifeoutloud #raisingasisterhood
Confession: I tend to take myself WAY to seriously. I have to remind myself to be fun. I’m not sure if I have always been like that or if it has been acquired with the trials of life. But there is something so healthy about stepping outside of my normal life and just being free. I have always loved to travel (sans kids) and it is probably because I can let go a bit and not have a mental load that’s is the weight of the world.
Who else out there is much more serious than they need to be!? #Imnotfun #butIcanbe #solotravel #momlifeproblems #enneagram8 #enneagram8w9 #communityovercompetition #momprobs #specialneedsmom #tuberoussclerosiscomplex #rodanandfields #wellness #travel
Mental Wellness Post 2
(Photo from the true start of my start of grieving in 2016)
Grieving
Woof!!! Life is hard. (Do people say woof anymore? Or just me?) All of us have something that has disappointed us in life. Sometimes these things become trauma. And we have to deal with our trauma. Turns out that stuffing it, ignoring it, and refusing to deal with it is REALLY HORRIBLE for your mental health and well being.
Grieving these things is extremely important. Yep- I’m going there- the topic no one likes- GRIEVING.
Grieving is taking the time to say “this isn’t the life I had imagined” or “it isn’t okay that XYZ happened” and then allowing yourself to sit there for a bit and to really sort through those feelings of disappointment and trauma. (Doesn’t have to count as trauma in your mind to warrant being grieved) Really taking the time to grieve facilitates healing and hope to spring from broken places.
Death isn’t the only thing that warrants grief. Maybe it was a divorce in your life, a breakup, someone hurting you, motherhood not being what you dreamed of, an illness of a child- I could go on and on. You get it, it is the pain you have that is holding you up.
I am a firm believer that we have to grieve the things that we have been disappointed by or the trauma we have been through in order to fully obtain mental wellness. Grief is very personal, and cannot be compared to another persons grief. While it is important to hold perspective in mind, our experiences aren’t necessarily comparable one person to another. Basically because your hard is less hard than someone else’s- doesn’t make your grief, trauma or disappointment invalid.
A few practical tips on grieving. You can grieve without falling apart. For years I just stuffed my grief because WHEN would I take time to do that? (I was picturing me laying in bed and someone having to come peel me out and I just didn’t have time for that in my busy life). Grieving is hard work but it is possible to do while living your life.
If this feels too heavy get some help going through this process. I personally did this with a fabulous counselor (gasp!! another thing people hate to admit they need).
As I take time to discuss wellness and what my wellness journey looks like I will highlight a couple major factors in each section. Feel free to ask questions or message me with them!
Mental health 1
Knowing yourself “I learned to be with myself rather than avoiding myself with limiting habits; I started to be aware of my feelings more, rather than numb them.” Mental health comes in many layers but one for me has been SELF KNOWLEDGE.
I have always felt I am too much for people. I never have understood why people think I am doing too much or am overly committed, when to me that pace feels good. I have had immense mom guilt because I truly LOVE my independence and at times motherhood has felt like a chokehold to me. Until I learned about myself and my personality. Since then I have had so much freedom in who I am and would say I am more balanced and a much better mother.
There are many tools for learning about your personality but the one I love the most is the Enneagram.
I truly believe that understanding ourselves better is a key piece in mental health.
It can move us from a place of just constantly reacting or numbing out to the world around us into a place of self awareness and self assuredness. Which leads to better patterns, relationships, and overall better mental health.
For me it has lead me to understand why I do what I do. And helped me really address some unhealthy behaviors.
I used to be resistant to personality test, because I didn’t want to be put in a box. Turns out it has gotten me out of the unhealthy box I was in and has become a tool to be the healthiest version of myself.
I frequently hear “I don’t read” or “can you just tell me my type” or “I don’t have time” but making time to mentally be the best version of you is important. And only YOU can do the self work to implement these tools.
Being mentally well is just like all other areas, (only you can make healthy food choices, or choose to get your body moving every day!) people can help support you but YOU have to do the hard work. **Post finished in comments**
The sweetness of this one this morning. 🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻 Our mornings are generally hard, and often full of behaviors and meltdowns. And today she was just the sweetest. I could smooch her all day- even on the hard days- but especially today with her spice girl buns and happy heart! #emmausanne #thisis8
