Reverse Brainwashing: The Goal of Rebuilding
If you have been a participant at any of my speaking events, you know that three years ago today I removed myself and my child from a dangerous situation and unhealthy marriage. Many people (including family and friends) did not know the severity of the situation and...
What’s In a Name?: Choosing Your Words Wisely
Even when teased as a child, some of us would chant “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me.” However, as an adult, I don’t find that true at all. I was bullied and teased all through school and I was never able to follow my parent’s advice...
Living With Chronic Pain: How I Got My Life Back
During one of the most stressful years of my life, while I was battling complications from Type II Diabetes, I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia. Before I had visited the Rheumatologist, I thought it was just joint ailments and a touch of arthritis, since I was entering...
How I Was Taught NOT to Care About ‘Self-Care’
by Cheryl Denise Bannerman My brothers had just busted my bedroom’s glass closet doors and put three holes in the hallway walls. Their drug-induced fight started in my bedroom, continued down the hallway, and out the front door to the street in front of our...
Domestic Violence: The Ultimate Paradox
Your home should be a place of safety. Yet, in a month devoted to highlighting the pain and feelings of shame caused by domestic violence, for some it is the place of greatest danger. Each time the door closes, when the light goes out, when no one else is around to...
The importance of self-compassion
If you have ever had a period of clinical depression, or if you have struggled throughout your life with chronic depression, you know that this is more than just a period of sadness. Depression is well named. It pushes down on a person, it makes the world full of...
The Importance of a Journal
So, you have started the journey with me. You have read the first powerful moments in the Words Never Spoken story of how someone can strive, thrive and live with hope. Now is the time to share your thoughts, to put your pen to paper, to shape your story. This is a...
Love at first sight; flee or fight for Love
Do you believe in Love at First Sight? Is it possible to love someone at first sight based on what's on the 'inside'? versus their outside characteristics, such as eyes, hair, smile, or physique. "Yes, we can, says psychoanalyst Roland Gori, who believes we can create...
Closure
Took a shower in Holy Water today Crying as drops of guilt and shame, trickle down the drain I am healed. No more myself to blame How many of you have had to gain closure on your own because a friend or loved one refused to 'own up' to their role in your pain? It's a...
Paying it Forward!
Have you ever heard of the phrase paying it forward? I first learned about this 2 years ago, when my daughter and I were at a toll booth about to pay and the ticket-taker person said it was paid already by the car that just pulled off. I was in awe, felt God had...