About Me

My senior year in high school, I took an elbow to my lip from a girl named Liz Lawlor. Why do I remember her name 37 years later? Memory is funny that way. The fact that this memory is wrapped up in the emotions of anger and the pain of splitting my lip is why it’s still vivid to me. It was a heated game with plenty of pushing, shoving, and fouls. After being elbowed in the lip and knocked to the floor, I found myself sitting on the hardwood, my vision narrowing—perhaps the blow had stunned me. I slammed my fists down on the court.

When I put my hands out in front of me, all I could see was bright red blood.

Little did I know that when I wrote my blog post about integrating "vacation me" and "everyday me", a few months later, I would write another post about my vacation purchase—or lack of purchase—experiences. This most recent experience involved buying a whole new bohemian-style wardrobe (second-hand on eBay) and actively addressing my bad habit of self-abandonment.

Since 2016, I've been consistently journaling. I’m not one to fill pages about my feelings or recount what happened yesterday. Instead, my journals are mostly filled with notes on the books I've read, the people I’ve interacted with, and plenty of self-criticism on how I could be better.

Looking back through these pages, I realized how one simple but profound habit transformed me from the inside out. This tool not only changed who I was as a person but also impacted my physical and mental health. I learned how to take a breath, check in with my emotions, and become less reactive—turning what could have ruined me into opportunities for growth.