"When The Going gets tough, the tough get going."

This phrase came about as a motivational technique to entice athletes to overcome the hardship of competition.  It is meant to...

"No wasted time, we're alive today

Churning up the past, there's no easier way

Time's been between us, a means to an end

God it's good to be here walking together my friend"

Stevie Ray Vaughan

...

"I visualize to the point that I know exactly what I want to do: dive, glide, stroke, flip, reach the wall, hit the split time to the hundredth, than swim back and forth as many times as I need to...

"I am not okay

I'm barely gettin' by

I'm losing track of days

And losin' sleep at night"

Jellyroll

If there ever was a theme song that describes the life of a trauma survivor, this is it. I...

We have entered rainy season at the lake. Today is day six of rain and swarms of fish flies creating a loud buzz in the dark skies. It feels like a scene from a horror movie when walking out to the...

"Do or do not, there is no try."

Yoda

After much internal conflict I took a week off and dug myself a few garden trenches. I placed seed, fertilized lawns and sat outside just listening to...

"Our ability to grow resilient in the face of adversity

spreads to others and helps them grow resilient as well"

I am in my garden today getting ready for the new season of tending, weeding...

Life changes fast. Life changes in an instant.

You can sit down to dinner and life as you know it changes"

Joan Didion

This week I have been overly triggered. It started when I was working outside...

"Who you were, who you are and who you will be are three different people"

Yesterday was cleaning closet day at Casa Anastasia with the goal of clearing out anything that was no longer of...

"Trauma comes back as a Reaction not a memory"

Bessel van der Kolk

A childhood filled with never knowing when the temperature was going to turn to rage - 200 blocks
Raised in a home lacking...

"Stay with me,

Let's just breathe

Practiced on my sins, never gonna let you win, uh-huh

Under everything, just another human being, uh-huh

I don't want to hurt

There's so much in this world to make...

I am fresh off of the snowshoes this morning. It is a warm day in March here on the lake and the entire hamlet is prepping for the annual ice fishing derby. Soon the ice will begin to melt away and...