mental health

  • Movin’ On Up

    Movin’ On Up

    I laid there. Taking it all in. A half empty closet. Cleared out dressers. Dust bunnies strewn across the floor. One corner with a TV and Nintendo Switch sitting up on the shelf. There wasn’t much else left to this room. Most of its contents were already removed and transported across the river to my

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  • Moving It Right

    Moving It Right

    A bit of a follow-up on my last post. I’m in the midst of a move from my home state of New Jersey (born, raised, and resided for the last 33 years) across the Delaware to our neighbor Pennsylvania. I do not fair well with change – any kind of change. Good or bad. I

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  • Make A Move

    Make A Move

    I spent the last thirty-three years of my life living within the confines of America’s armpit. I call southern New Jersey home and never imagined I would be typing this next sentence. In the next three to four weeks, I am doing my best George Washington impression and crossing the Delaware River into Pennsylvania. I

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  • It’s Been A While

    It’s Been A While

    *Cue Staind* It has been nearly three months since the last time I posted on my blog. I apologize to those of you who missed my weekly posts, but I promise – I’m still here. I was just doing A LOT. I worked a full-time job, a part-time job, and hit the ground running on

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  • You’re Doing It

    You’re Doing It

    To my loyal readers, I apologize for being MIA the last several weeks. I know so many of you are going through Caring Counselor withdrawal after not hearing from me for six weeks. (Please note my sarcasm.) In all seriousness, my writing took a backseat in recent weeks. I feel split between three jobs and

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  • Harder Than Usual

    Harder Than Usual

    This holiday season, man. It feels like there has been a full moon every night since Thanksgiving. My life feels out of control at times and harder to manage this in years past. Not only does it seem this way for me but also everyone else I’ve spoken to. The increased stress levels, prominent feelings

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  • Doing Nothing Does Something

    Some of you likely had a conniption reading that title. How does one do nothing and do something simultaneously? It is like dividing by zero. It is impossible. No, it’s not. It can be done. I might be crazy, but I can explain. Your boy had nothing short of an emotionally and physically exhausting week.

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  • Grace Over Guilt

    Grace Over Guilt

    By far, I am my own worst critic. I am notorious for self-deprecation. Given my long trauma history, black-and-white thinking, and unrealistic expectations of myself, it’s easy to go down that rabbit hole. Personally, I like to have little mantras to keep myself in check. Just short sayings that I can repeat to myself from

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  • The Benefits of Having a Pet Companion

    Now that I have lured you in with an absolutely adorable picture of a golden retriever, I would like to introduce you to Butler. Although he is not technically my dog (belongs to my landlord), I have been in his life every day since he was two months old. He just turned six years old,

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  • Another Hit

    Another Hit

    Feeling disheartened this week. After thinking I had my health under control, it decided to throw two middle fingers in my face. Two weeks ago, my stomach had a familiar nauseous feeling. The bouts of nausea were followed shortly by multiple visits to the bathroom. Since being diagnosed with GERD (or reflux) back in February,

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