I started Covid lockdowns taking exceptional care of myself. Like for many of you, it was an opportunity to walk / exercise more, …
The last time I wrote for Why Soul Serious, I was so excited to be building community and sharing from my heart. And then, our family found ourselves in the middle of some deep health issues. My older daughter was really struggling, and I really didn’t know how to come here and be open with my story while also honoring her process and privacy.
It was a big struggle for me, but ultimately of course, I stopped writing here because I refused to show up here in what I’d consider a lie. In a nutshell, that’s why it’s been so long. The bigger story is, well, longer – and while I know I’ll get into details as I begin writing again, I don’t plan to write all about it right here.
For me there’s still a line. My daughter is an adult now and sharing her story herself via her instagram account, @Caitlynsgrowth. There she shares that she’s in recovery for anorexia nervosa. She also struggles with depression and anxiety. She’s a warrior and is making progress to fight those inner demons. Please know that when I write here, I’m not writing from her perspective – only she can do that. And maybe she will – maybe she’ll decide to do some posts here to talk about her experience.
Meanwhile, I’m hoping to keep talking about mine… about what it’s been like as a parent to fight every single day for my child’s life. And about trying to rebuild my own self now that she is in recovery, even though recovery is not a straight upward line. I’ll be sharing things that I’ve found helpful in life – from products, to healthy habits, to books, etc.
We’re prepping for holiday shopping around here and have our top 10 list for an artistic and alternative teen. I find it sometimes hard to know what will be cool and quirky instead of plain dorky, so this type of list helps me a lot! I’m making this list from Caitlyn’s wishlist on Pinterest, updated for Christmas.
It just hit me today… The fun of organizing my life in preparation for a new year!! I’ve been working on my intentions for weeks if not months now, but suddenly, I’m planning events well into 2019 and realizing it’s time for new wall calendars and planners so that I have visual reminders and don’t overbook myself.
One thing you should know about Casey and I is that we love to eat. We both love many different kinds of food and get a lot of joy out of eating. So when our 5 year old gets super finicky with food and starts throwing fits at dinner time, it’s a huge buzzkill.
A few weeks ago, I wrote this post about going from no exercise to running 1.5 miles in less than a week. That post focused on how I did that, and what I tried differently than before. I can definitely say that part of it was mindset – and a lack of pressure to achieve perfection right away. Paradoxically, it was exactly that which led me to success. I don’t actually want to run a marathon. I just want to do some simple runs to keep my cardio fitness levels up.
One thing I didn’t talk about though, was gear. Doesn’t gear make a difference?
We’re writing about the top five things that mean the most to us about each other and our relationship in hopes that it gives insight into the things that truly matter within a partnership. It’s kind of an experiment to see how it flows into relationship topics.
First, it occurs to me now that the more we allow Disbelievers to control whether we voice our stories, the more they control the outcomes. It’s scary as hell to tell a story like this, to open yourself up to the judgement that may come. This happened about 1/2 my life ago and my parents don’t know (until now). For some reason, unknown to me for a long time, I have carried shame for this. Even though that doesn’t make sense, it’s true. The psychology of victimhood doesn’t always follow “common sense”. Now I know that the shame I have carried about this reflects more about society’s views of these incidents and how our system first attempts to blame women, than it ever has reflected about me personally.
In talking with friends, colleagues, and other couples, we find that we have a bit of a different perspective that sometimes helps others navigate discomfort in their own lives. So, we decided to write about the things that we feel make a difference for us in the hope that it will be helpful for others. We focus on relationship, parenting, and wellness topics – all with a bent toward building awareness and conscious choice.