Lessons From the Rocking Chair

In my last post I discussed child pornography. What it is, my viewpoints on it, and what we as a society can do to end it. I had done minor research on the effects of child pornography and what it is exactly but I wanted to delve more into the research and I had this realization (more like this déjà vu moment as I had already come to this conclusion before) that psychological studies are not created equal. What I mean by this is that psychology in and of itself is an interesting field to study because when you study psychology you are studying the human mind specifically the human mind, it's functions, and how that affects behavior in different contexts (Oxford dictionaries). With this in mind, that means that behaviors differ from person to person, mental illness differs in the way that it is manifested in individuals, meaning that an individual with Bipolar I disorder will exhibit mania in a completely different way than another person. As a result, we therefore could conclude th...

Let's learn something shall we... Technology, we all know it has it's good parts and it's bad parts.  It has a great way of bringing people together, especially when they are far from each other.  It also has a great way of creating divides between people that are hard to mend.  I'm going to share an experience now that I hope can help us all learn to, as Rafiki said in the 'Lion King,' "Look Harder." Tonigh as we started dinner, my husband was very distracted on his phone. He was doing something with a purpose, but I didn't understand why that purpose had to be managed right then.  I do this often after dinner, since I feel he is home and it's his turn with our kids, or sometimes I will do this during lunch time with our kiddos. So it's not just him. Back to tonight though. I could feel my anger and annoyance start to boil over as I continually was helping our kiddos with different things related to their food, all while trying to eat myse...

Disclaimer: This page contains affiliate links. If you choose to make a purchase after clicking a link, I may receive a commission at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support! Now, on to the good stuff! Health support comes in all different shapes and sizes. Kind of like we do.  Support might look like medication, supplementing, exercise, reading, journaling, meditation, therapy, chiropractic's, … The possibilities are endless for how we support our health.  For me specifically, I have found that taking the right supplements, eating well, exercising, meditation, journaling, and therapy have all been a benefit in my overall health journey.  Right now as I work on my mental health, I'm going to be open about a few things that honestly, might seem arbitrary on how they help or will help me to manage my mental health, but, I promise you they do and or will. Why?... Because I know myself.  Okay so first: Journaling.          Journalin...

In an effort to be transparent up to a point, I want to share one thing in particular that has been very beneficial for me to not only acknowledge but implement in my life that I have learned from working with my therapist.  It's no secret that each generation of parents does the best they can with the knowledge that they have. Most parents want to do right by their children and not all recognize the generational trauma that they take on from their own parents until sometimes their own children are out of the house.  Let me repeat that, most parents do the best they can with the knowledge they have and have access to.  That being said, there are points in my adolescent years in which, without disclosing anything, a lot was going on within my family.  As a result of all that was occurring, there was a lot, and I mean A LOT of emotion stuffing going on for everyone. Couple that with the societal norm that the only acceptable answers to the question, "how are you?" is "...

In society today, therapy is becoming less of a nuance, but it is still something that can be looked down on markedly.  Why?... I don't really know. I mean, there is nothing, Nothing, inherently wrong with taking care of your mental health.  In college, during my time as a psychology student. I had a professor who stated that most people struggle with the things that others go to therapy for. The matter is frequency. Fast forward 1 year, after a car accident, I found myself fitting into this proposed "frequency." I sought help, begrudgingly. After being diagnosed as having situational depression, anxiety, and mild anger, I ironically, found myself angry in regards to the diagnosis.  After working with the therapist though, I ended up working through a lot of junk that I hadn't realized I had really been holding onto. It was only for a couple semesters that I did individual and group therapy, but honestly, it helped a lot.  Fast forward to now. With my oldest, I didn...

 This post will be short and sweet, but I wanted to share where the inspiration came from for not only the title, but for the blog itself.  Having two kids now, I have spent a fair amount of time in our rocking chair. Whether that has been rocking them to sleep, nursing, reading, or helping them to calm down after a fall or a frustration has arisen. It has become a haven for not only my children, but myself mentally as I have worked through the struggling nuances of motherhood that are honestly, just a part of the job.  In my rocking chair, I have learned about how to raise my youngest better. I have learned through the books that I have read them, both children's books and books on parenting as well as many books by Mitch Albom, the importance of slowing down and appreciating the life that is going on around me.  My educational background has helped me to open my eyes, as I have contemplated the questions of my soul, to see why my children might behave the way they ...