All in stories

The Power of Our Voices

Wow - it’s been 6 months since I last wrote. A lot has happened in those 6 months….primarily, a global pandemic. WTF? After being so consistent I ended up losing touch with my writing. I got caught up in the notion of needing to produce the perfect piece and it never seemed to happen. I was putting way too much pressure on myself and the joy and benefits of writing disappeared. SO I’m putting my fingers to the keyboard today to get my writing juices flowing once again….forget perfection. After all, nothing is perfect (nor should it be) and that is what makes this life so beautiful.

World Stroke Day

Today is World Stroke Day and something I feel compelled to speak out, despite my hesitancy because it’s quite emotional and private. I’m still wrestling with the fact that stroke is something that has effected me. It’s important though to share our stories, embrace our vulnerabilities, and get important conversations started. World Stroke Day seeks to raise awareness for stroke, the second leading cause of death. A stroke can happen to anyone, at anytime and anywhere. Young or old, completely healthy or suffering from a pre-existing condition, anyone can be effected. With stroke it’s important to act FAST and to know what to look out for. I’d urge you all to go to https://www.worldstrokecampaign.org for a variety of resources. It takes just a few minutes to educate yourself and you just might save a life!

Stream of Consciousness

After an almost 4 month hiatus I'm happy to say I'm back to writing!!

Over the last few months I struggled to settle on a certain topic I wanted to write about. When it comes to my writing I am definitely a perfectionist and I feel like I need to deliver a top-quality piece with a clear beginning, middle and end each and every time. My mind, emotions and experiences were all over the place and I couldn't settle down enough to string together what I considered a cohesive and coherent post. But then I realized life is not always so succinct and easy to tie up in a nice little package and that in and of itself is what makes it so beautiful. Back in the beginning of June I was on the cusp of experiencing so much beauty, so much opportunity, and so much "newness".  As I've moved through so much in the past few months I finally decided to take the leap and just write: attempting to cover all that I've been feeling and all that has been happening. Here goes nothing – my stream of consciousness post! I'm smirking as I'm typing because there's no way I can adequately capture all of my feelings and do them justice with mere words.

...you're going where?! was the response I got from essentially everyone when I told them that Mike and I would be traveling to Albania this past August. Most people can't even find Albania on a map, let alone conceptualize traveling there, but we are now among the fortune few who have!

Although it sounds cliché, and is often not what one with chronic illness wants to hear, I do believe that everything happens for a reason. While I don't identify as particularly religious, I do consider myself extremely spiritual and in tune with the universe