Trigger Warning: Mention of sexual assault and suicidal ideation *** I was born needing to be fixed. They didn’t have the fancy ultrasounds forty-some years ago, so I came out bloody and ready to breathe life into the world—except I could barely breathe. I was born disfigured; my lip was attached to the bottom of […]
Sisters in Mental Illness: Healing Trauma Through Self Love
by on October 21, 2019 Leave a Comment
“Radical self love and radical self compassion is really one of the key ways to heal yourself from trauma. You have to release yourself. You have to choose yourself.” —Grace Sandra. This month, Shaley sits down with award-winning blogger and author Grace Sandra. Grace has experienced postpartum depression, divorce and remarriage, childhood abuse, rape, miscarriages, […]
Sisters in Mental Illness: Shaley Hoogendoorn Talks to Jessica Birak of Mint & Birch
by on June 26, 2019 Leave a Comment
[ Trigger Warning: Mention of abuse, as well as an eating disorder.] This month, Shaley Hoogendoorn talks to Jessica Birak, founder of the jewelry company Mint & Birch, who is also a vulnerable and honest advocate for mental health. They talk about topics related to anxiety, depression, postpartum, hypochondria, eating disorders and healing from childhood […]
Grief Draws Us to Belonging
by on June 2, 2019 Leave a Comment
As we rounded the corner, I saw the hearse. It was parked in front of the doors of First-Centenary United Methodist Church in Chattanooga, Tennessee and the finality took my breath away. This past Saturday, we shared in Rachel Held Evans’ funeral. I drove up from Atlanta with my dear friend Tina Francis-Mutungu and the miles […]
The Places I Saw the Face of God
by on May 26, 2019 Leave a Comment
I grew up in a family where we were measured by performance. In elementary school, we were given quarters for our A’s. We were given dessert if we finished all of our food on our plate. We were given shelves for all our trophies. I did not have a shelf. Sports was something I did not […]
