For Jesse

When everyone was discouraging me from making different choices for my life, Jesse was always there to encourage me to live my own life and make my own mistakes. Knowing he was just a text or call away gave me so much strength and courage to confront the world.

The Choice

“Expression is the opposite of depression,” Dr. Eger claims. As depression rates continue to climb, we need to put an emphasis on expression. Too many people suffer in silence, slowly being eaten away by the past.

The Body Keeps the Score

Dr. van der Kolk stated, “The bodies of child-abuse victims are tense and defensive until they find a way to relax and feel safe.” When I started trying to take better care of myself, I decided to get a massage. The first time, and several after to be honest, were not very pleasant or relaxing. I would often still feel just as tense or even more so when it was over. The masseuse would keep saying, “You can relax now,” and I would be so confused because I thought I was relaxed.

Only Me

A lot of assumptions are hurled at only children. People just assume you’re a spoiled brat who has been handed everything you could ever want in life. They just assume things were calm and peaceful in your household because it was just you and your parents must have been so attentive to your every whim. They assume you’re socially awkward and don’t know how to make friends or interact with people. They assume you’re still spoiled as an adult and have always had a great support system. That was not my experience whatsoever.

Man’s Search for Meaning

Frankl survived the Nazi concentration camps and fulfilled his destiny. He completed his work on Logotherapy, which focuses on the future, the meanings each person is to fulfill. These meanings can change over time. Frankl writes, “What matters, therefore, is not the meaning of life in general but rather the specific meaning of a person’s life at a given moment.”