I’ve been off the radar spending time with my daughter – Sophia Marie.  She’s now 6 months old and already so grown up!  I love being mom and can tell you that adopting her into my life has been the greatest blessing – beyond words!  I have a new book in the works – Child of My Heart: An Adoption Love Story and I’ll share more about this when it begins to take shape and direction.  For now, if you are interested in hearing about the journey so far, you can request a FREE copy my short story Baby Magic (more…)

Many people with depressive disorders think they are stuck because the condition has been handed down through their genes.  This view is very limiting and can sometimes lead to people giving up on any chance of recovery or living a happy life before they begin!  I’m no scientist but Bruce H. Lipton, Ph.D. is and offers some new thinking that challenges this notion of genetics. 

Epigenetics research challenges the conventional beliefs about genes and reveals the role of emotion on our bodies and health. In this video, author and cellular biologist Bruce H. Lipton, Ph.D. explores the importance of perception in maintaining optimal health.

View Now  

It Felt Love

How
Did the rose

Ever open its heart

And give to this world

All its

Beauty?

It felt the encouragement of light

Against its

Being

Otherwise,

We all remain

Too

Frightened.

Hafiz, Sufi Mystic and Poet

The only way out is in. Wearing the cloak of muted agony known as depression, your body constricted, your emotions throb and your mind races. It all feels so overwhelming and with no end in sight. (more…)

If we consider the conditions of Depression, in all its forms, a “Crisis of the Soul”; what can we learn from this vantage point?

Through my own five year “Crisis of the Soul”, I was aware that despite the external view that I was dis-eased and had fallen victim to this terrible mental illness known by the name of “Clinical Depression and Manic Depression” that there was indeed something more profound at work in me.

Below the agonizing pain of intrusive thoughts and the feeling that my heart was broken in two there was a deep nagging from a place beyond my mind and body. This deep nagging; I’m sure was my drooping soul crying out to be heard. Looking for a way to penetrate my life and fulfill its purpose. (more…)

Medication Does Not Bring Healing

As I reflect back on this period of my life I believe that my story, although extreme, is also the story of so many other people. If you really look around the world, it seems to be a place of complete insanity. It is unsurprising that people are fragmented and disoriented. The world is fragmented and disoriented. If you have any feelings at all, the idea of such extreme suffering of so many can be too much to bear. Disconnecting from your feelings and from the world all together seems like a good idea.

Mental illness has reached epidemic proportions. The standard answer to the problem is to medicate. Millions worldwide are now medicated beyond reason. Medication fails to address healing. Medication merely serves to numb the symptoms and suppress the root cause of the pain. However, it is impossible to hide forever from hurts and pains of unhealed wounds. We have all had experiences that have left their mark. For some, the marks are visible as scars on the outside; for others, the scars are all on the inside, sheltered from view.

Guilt and suffering are two feelings that unite the entire human race. Many cultures ascribe guilt and obedience as the societal norm and as a means of maintaining control. The result is that everyone has a need to move beyond feelings of unworthiness, self-loathing and guilt.

The time has come to stop searching outside of ourselves for answers. It is time to stop listening to what others think is the right path for each individual. It is time for us to turn our journey inward. In the silence of our hearts we learn about love and the flow of life. We are our own saviors. We can’t save others. We only need to save ourselves. Melissa Etheridge sings “I Need to Wake Up.” This is my wish for you. Take courage and hope. Wake up. Life is waiting. Wake up. You are needed. Wake up. Give your love to the world. It’s all there is to do.

Can we really lean into the darkness? What happens if we do? The natural tendency seems to be to recoil, retreat and hide. All these responses seem to bind us in bondage and suffering. What if we did it differently and really leaned into the darkness? (more…)

Is it really so difficult to image that you could think yourself well? My personal experience reveals that the process of transforming one’s inner thoughts was central to my recovery from bipolar and depression.

How Can You Change Your Thoughts?
(more…)

What are you thinking about right now? Stop and notice. If you knew that your thoughts were creating your life experience, would you thinking the thoughts you are thinking now? The world has taken your mind hostage, it’s time to get it back! If we pay attention to our thoughts and begin improving the quality of what we think about big shifts can happen!