Trading Panic for Peace

I battle with anxiety. Like the clinical medicated kind, not the “I worry all the time” kind. In fact, I’m not a conscious worrier on a regular basis; the thoughts I have control over are generally positive and calm. The problem is my amygdala, that part of my brain which controls my anxiety, or more …

Time to Wake Up: What Happened this Month in Mississippi and Why it Matters

A headline flashes across my Facebook feed. “Mississippi governor signs order declaring April 2020 Confederate Heritage Month.” My first reaction is incredulity— that can’t be true. It’s from a news source I’m not familiar with, so I do a quick Google search to see what I can piece together about the story. Within seconds, I …

Not everything is different…

Easter looked different this year. We still had the food, and the kids hunted eggs and even wore Easter outfits. But family time existed of Zoom meetings and phone calls, and church was on TV while we sat in PJs eating cinnamon rolls and drinking coffee. And by the evening, I was feeling the weight …

I’m Dreaming of a Light Christmas: 12 Tips for Setting Boundaries During the Holidays

Ah, the holiday season. That magical time of year. The music, the lights, the gifts, the family... the stress, the pressure, the expectations. Funny how quickly Michael Buble and twinkle lights can trigger a stress response. The holidays can be a magical time, but as y'all know, it can also be a time of anxiety. …

Seven Things Writing a Book in a Month Taught Me // Autumn 2019 Reflections

Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forward. Søren Kierkegaard My guru for creating space for my soul to breathe, Emily P. Freeman, suggests that we “establish intentional time to reflect on our lives,” so as one season closes and another begins, that’s just what I do... I am a NaNoWriMo …

Identifying Seasons and Why it Matters

When you go to church every Sunday, sometimes the messages can start to run together in your mind as common themes- themes of hope, redemption, power, love, calling, forgiveness, community. Every once in a while though, a message is shared and it’s the specific words that you remember. What must be at least fifteen years …

Seven Things I Learned this Summer

June-August 2019 If you’ve followed me for any amount of time, you’ll know that Emily P. Freeman is my soul guru. Her mission is to create a place for our souls to breath, and I didn’t even know that was something I needed until I started listening to her podcast and reading her books/blog. But …

my brain tricked me

I'm in counseling. There. I said it. It's not really a secret but it still feels a little weird to just put it out there like that on the World Wide Web. I've had to grow quite a bit to get to a place where I was okay with the idea of therapy. But after …

tgif…june 7, 2019

I'm a collector of gurus. And while I can't claim her as mine alone since she's beloved by many, Brené Brown is my vulnerability guru. She inspires me to have courage and exercise creativity. Every week, she shares her TGIF list as a gratitude practice. I love it so much that I'm stealing it for …