Women have been advocates for many years. In the United States it was not until the 19th Amendment was ratified in 1920 that women had the right to vote! It’s hard to imagine that we were not allowed to vote, up until 100 years ago! Women advocates organized, petitioned, and picketed to win the right…
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Talking is Not the Same as Communicating
A women checked into the hospital to have a tonsillectomy and the surgical team erroneously removed a portion of her foot. WHAT? Apparently, 98,000 hospital deaths each year stem from human error. Partly because health care professionals are afraid to speak. Every industry and organization and family has this problem — the need for better…
Discovering Courage in Unsuspected Places
Choices considered socially unacceptable or unpopular might be labeled crazy, misguided but seldom courageous. Particularly when it comes to religion. For those who lean toward or practice a faith that is not part of the current mainstream, consider the labels that pop up: extremist, fundamentalist, cultist, brainwashed. Fundamental is quite nicely defined “as forming a…
COURAGE CAME WITH A COST
As a child, I always thought I was strong and had courage except when it came to snakes, then I crumbled and ran. Speaking up to help a friend being bullied or teased because of their clothes or the way they talked or looked, I was your girl. It was always so upsetting to me…
Pain or Power?
At the age of 24, something happened in my life I was not expecting and could do nothing about. I was pregnant, married five years but never intending to have children. I knew I was not like my mother — she was the best mom ever, playful, fun, kind, giving. I did not have what…
Overcoming Self-Doubt to Live a Life of Purpose
At the age of ten, I knew I wanted to be a writer. I wanted to be a journalist and report the news on television, but something happened. Self-doubt reared its ugly head. Instead of believing that I could, I found all the reasons why I could not. Sadly, I did not have anyone that…
Overcoming Self Doubt in Recovery
Self-Doubt As a woman in active recovery from drug and alcohol addiction and eating disorders, I have been provided with an incredible opportunity to help others through my own experiences. Watching the women and men that I work with open up like beautiful flowers, dropping the shackles and chains of their self-made prisons, has become…
Questioning Myself
Sometimes I doubt myself. I mean I try to listen to my inner voice yet I begin questioning myself. Sound confusing? Try listening to my inner monologue that sounds like a dialogue and make sense of it! During this time of new normal, I find myself questioning many things. What is my purpose? What should…
Ending Structural Racism – An Earnest Conversation
I want to start a conversation. Recent events have galvanized us with widespread outrage congealing into a consensus for change. That is good. My concern, though, is that a narrow focus on police brutality will eclipse the need for more sweeping reform. Of course, police brutality must end, but that alone will never compensate African…
