Combat baby, come back.

 It's been awhile since my last post...

Writing, in many ways, is my internal therapy session. It forces me to slow down, and put my thoughts out there in a way that can be understood by those of you who don't live inside my head. I stopped blogging about the time I started my MSW-- I didn't have time, for sure, and Blogger had changed and I didn't want to take the time to learn the new system. I stopped doing a lot of the creative things I enjoy, because I just didn't have the emotional bandwidth. I kept cooking, because I like to eat, and taking pictures... although I didn't do much with them at all. The self-reflective writing that was embedded into the program was the outlet I used from Fall 2016-Summer 2019.

I continued my hiatus then-- I started working per diem as a Crisis Worker and Outpatient Clinician, which again, filled my brain with lots to consider. And then... well, we all know that 'normal' changed on 3/15/20, and I was too freaked out by living and working through a pandemic, both as a teacher and a mental health worker to return to my favorite creative outlets.

This spring, though, my mojo came back. I've been scrapping like a fool, finishing 4 years of pictures in the last 4 months. I've been thinking about my book too-- I've thought about it a lot over the last 5 years-- and how to get beyond the title. And while I am not the same person I was pre-pandemic, I've settled back into myself enough to be able to find my truth through my words again. 

If you've gotten to this point, then something likely resonates with you-- that, or you really like me and reading my blog is an act of love. Please remember: I write for me, to help make sense of all that goes on internally, and have chosen to share it with the world because enough people have said they appreciate what I write. It is highly probable I will write some things that offend certain people I know and love-- but this personal therapy session doesn't work if I'm holding back. However, if my words are helpful to you in your own journey, please come along for the ride. I am a Capital E Extrovert, and love having you here, even through the magic of the interwebs. If you no longer enjoy this ride, you can exit at any time. But,  just like (I hope) your adults taught you, if you can't say anything nice, please don't say anything at all. I welcome differing perspectives-- they help me figure out what I really do mean-- but hatred and unkindness will not be tolerated.

Oh-- there will also be pop culture references, because that's also how my brain works. Combat Baby is a song by Metric, which tells the story of people hitting the 'easy living' part of life, but missing their punk past. Um... yea. While I was never a punk in terms of behavior or clothing style, I have always resonated with punk ethos. I guess this resurgence of the blog is me trying to figure out how that part of me fits with my simple life 52 year old mother of 2 twenty-somethings (or 4, if I count the other 2 I helped raise and consider my own) self who has been married (to the same man, thankfully) for longer than I have not.

If you're STILL here, I'm really glad to have you. Let's go figure out this thing called life together.