It is January 12th, almost halfway into the first month of 2025. I am finally gaining the motivation to encapsulate my state of mind in the New Year as I write my annual reflection and intentions for 2025. This, after weeks of chaos due to the incoming President-elect in Donald Trump for a second term,…
Author: jlw78
An avid seeker of knowledge and truth.
2024 New Years Reflection
I am sitting here trying to write my annual end of year post and, honestly, I am just numb. I have no emotions about it. It was a difficult year in many ways but also a year of growth as all difficult years are. My therapist calls it my “dark night of the soul” moment….
Musings on My “Mid-Life Crisis”
My friend, Michael, had an insight about me the other day into my struggles. He suggested that I am not having an existential crisis, I am having an identity crisis. He said: You’re wrapped up in “purpose” because the identities to which you’re accustomed have a job description attached: daughter, mother, sister, aunt, teacher, student,…
Summer Goals 2023
This year has turned out to be the year of slowing down and processing my world. It wasn’t planned; it was more forced upon me when my body gave out and told me I needed to take a minute to assess what it truly needed; my neck seized up and my nagging shoulder injury wasn’t…
Birthday Post
I am forty-five years old today. It is absolutely gorgeous outside, and I am taking advantage as I sit on my deck writing this. I believe age is only a number and time a construct; however, it is nice to mark another year and hold space to think about its significance in my growth and…
In Defense of Empaths
I am an empath. An empath is someone who is sensitive to the emotions and frame of mind of others and, as a result, feels more empathy than an average human. An empath takes in the emotional energy from those around them and, essentially, feels all the feelings. This existence can be exhausting and draining,…
A Political State of Affairs: A Marker
I believe we are in an inflection point over the last several years that have arisen due to a concerted effort of anti-government Libertarians, evangelicals, and wealthy right-wing corporatists and oligarchs uniting to push the age-old narrative that “socialism” is trying to infiltrate our society. Using the fear of socialism and culture wars as their…
Is Worthiness Simple or Complicated?
I am working through “worthiness” with my therapist right now. This has been something I have struggled with my entire life. It sounds simple: Just love yourself. Yet self help gurus have sold us thousands and even millions of affirmational books, tapes, podcasts, meditations and other such jargon to help us do just that: love…
It’s All About Me in 2023
I have been struggling with my body the last few days…literally-speaking. I feel like it is revolting against me. It started this past Wednesday after some dry needling into my suboccipital muscles. My neck and upper back started getting really sore and eventually locked up to the point where I wasn’t able to move my…
The Supreme Court: Democratic Representative or Authoritarian Institution?
An acquaintance of mine commented on the following quote: “In the past, the Supreme Court usually ruled in line with public opinion,” Urman said. She followed that quote with this comment: “It is so terrifying to me that we think, say and print such lines as this…the implications of the Supreme Court making decisions based…
The Disintegration of the Republican Party
I have some bones to pick that I simply can’t ignore anymore… If you read the history of conservatism it will include the Godfather of Conservatism in Edmund Burke. But when you actually read about the debate of conservatism in the late 1700s and early 1800s (Burke’s time), the arguments are less about maintaining life…
Voting In the Midterms 2022
With the midterm election just days away, maybe the largest conversation in this moment is about acceptance. I hesitate to say “freedom” rather than acceptance because that word has been co-opted by those who spout freedom in the same breath they are taking it away. A gun rights activist spouts “freedom to bear arms” whilst…
Notes In the Margins 