May is national mental health awareness month. In honor of that, I want to share a bit more of my journey to mental health and stability. I first started having trouble with anxiety and depression in middle school. I would get so stressed out in class - most often about reading aloud - that I would sweat through the armpits of my shirts... and then spend the rest of the day refusing to raise my hands because I didn't want anyone to see my sweat stains. Social anxiety start

I don't understand how there's still so much hatred in the world. Just the other day, I was sitting on the patio of my favorite little coffee shop - which, mind you, is off of a quiet neighborhood street in a notoriously progressive area of Chicago... when I heard a ton of angry honking. I understand road rage happens, but this seemingly innocent mishap of communication on the road turned into vulgar gesturing and yelling. The exchange escalated into one driver yelling raci

I'm still on my motivate and encourage kick-- still wanting people to truly LIVE their lives! It's a message I firmly believe in, and think most people need to hear over and over again before they act upon it. So with that being said: At last the sun is shining. Birds are chirping. Flowers are blooming. And allergies are in full swing... This time of year really serves as a good reminder to me that life isn’t ever all-good or all-bad. Spring, this golden time of year, with

I’m tired of embarrassment. Anger, excitement, joy, sorrow... 99% of the emotions we experience I understand the usefulness of. There is a time and a place for responses of a wide spectrum of emotions. But embarrassment...? That’s one gets me, more than anything. Embarrassment causes us to avoid trying new things and meeting new people. Embarrassment leads to shame. Embarrassment makes us sit on the sidelines of our own lives because we fear the way we might be perceived and/