As a recovering Type-A overachiever, I used to be a To Do list lover. I kept lists on paper, electronic devices, the refrigerator, the back of every receipt in my wallet. I compiled master To Do lists of my to-do lists until the list was longer than Rapunzel’s hair and just as unmanageable. Can you imagine trying to comb–let alone style!– seven stories of hair? NO. But that is exactly what I was perpetually trying to do with my lists:... Read more
Today is my 35th birthday, the one I almost didn’t make it to see– because depression nearly took my life last June. In celebration of LIFE in spite of and beyond mental illness, I’m making one “small” wish: 35,000 random acts of kindness done by family, friends, fans, strangers [aka friends I haven’t met yet]. In honor of depression awareness–and the fact I survived to see this birthday–please give the world the gift of your kindness today. Small things count: encouraging words,... Read more
Last week I woke up nauseated, with a killer headache and a great deal of anxiety. It felt a lot like that time in college I drank 151 and…well, I don’t exactly remember what happened, but I woke up to a sprained ankle, and laughing roommates with blackmail photos. Anyway. Last week’s hangover wasn’t the college kind, it was far worse: A Vulnerability Hangover. Otherwise known as the Shame Sickness which follows baring your heart and soul. (If you’ve never... Read more
In early June 2016, I drove my car onto the tracks and waited. When the train rumbled in approach, I heard the whistle. Relief washed over me. Finally. Finally I will escape this deep, black Darkness. Finally I will wake up from my living nightmare. I would have said a prayer for forgiveness, but I believed in a God who could not want me to suffer one more hour. I would have said goodbyes to my family, but I wanted them to believe... Read more
There are two ways to take the kindness & gratitude #AmericaIsKind Challenge: #1: On social media, SHARE an ACT OF KINDNESS you have witnessed with the tag #AmericaIsKind, then PAY IT FORWARD by doing a random act of kindness for a stranger. TAG 3-5 friends to take the #AmericaIsKind Challenge to keep the acts of good going. And/Or #2: Participate in the 30-day #AmericaIsKind Challenge, where we are turning our #GratefulToGood by practicing gratitude and acts of kindness every day for... Read more
There are two ways to take the #AmericaIs Kind Challenge: #1: On social media, SHARE an ACT OF KINDNESS you have witnessed with the tag #AmericaIsKind, then PAY IT FORWARD by doing a random act of kindness for a stranger. TAG 3-5 friends to take the #AmericaIsKind Challenge to keep the acts of good going. And/Or #2: Participate in the 30-day #AmericaIsKind Challenge, where we are turning our #GratefulToGood by practicing gratitude and acts of kindness every day for a month.... Read more
There are two ways to take the #AmericaIs Kind Challenge: #1: On social media, SHARE an ACT OF KINDNESS you have witnessed with the tag #AmericaIsKind, then PAY IT FORWARD by doing a random act of kindness for a stranger. TAG 3-5 friends to take the #AmericaIsKind Challenge to keep the acts of good going. And/Or #2: Participate in the 30-day #AmericaIsKind Challenge, where we are turning our #GratefulToGood by practicing gratitude and acts of kindness every day for a month.... Read more
No one is sent to anyone by accident.” -A Course in Miracles Gabrielle Bernstein (of Spirit Junkie) writes of how “relationships are assignments”: every person who comes into your life is there to teach you something, and you are there to teach them, too. I think relationships are sometimes like assignments in a class you didn’t enroll in, at a school you didn’t choose, in a language you don’t speak, where the other kids throw spit-wads in your direction, and the... Read more
There are two ways to take the #AmericaIs Kind Challenge: #1: On social media, SHARE an ACT OF KINDNESS you have witnessed with the tag #AmericaIsKind, then PAY IT FORWARD by doing a random act of kindness for a stranger. TAG 3-5 friends to take the #AmericaIsKind Challenge to keep the acts of good going. And/Or #2: Participate in the 30-day #AmericaIsKind Challenge, where we are turning our #GratefulToGood by practicing gratitude and acts of kindness every day for a month.... Read more
There are two ways to take the #AmericaIs Kind Challenge: #1: On social media, SHARE an ACT OF KINDNESS you have witnessed with the tag #AmericaIsKind, then PAY IT FORWARD by doing a random act of kindness for a stranger. TAG 3-5 friends to take the #AmericaIsKind Challenge to keep the acts of good going. And/Or #2: Participate in the 30-day #AmericaIsKind Challenge, where we are turning our #GratefulToGood by practicing gratitude and acts of kindness every day for a month.... Read more
Post-Traumatic Church Syndrome
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