Dear Reader,
Thank you for taking the time to stop by my website. If you explore more about me, you will find that there are many sides to who I am. So who am I? Click on the links to learn more in depth info or scroll down to get a general story.
Grief & Healing from Traumatic Grief, Lyme Disease, and Childhood Pain
In 2011, I began blogging to tell my own raw story of grief and healing. I was exploring identity and how wounds so often define us the rest of our lives.
In 2012, I lost my Kindred Spirit and one of my dearest life-long friends, Bethany Leidlein (I will never call her by her married name), through a progressively worse mental health crisis and eventual suicide inside an abusive marriage and community that had become a cult and shunned her until she lost all hope and grounding in reality.
My dearest friend and Kindred Spirit tragically died while involved in a cult. This was taken around 2005/2006 when she was in college.
This story has received a lot of media attention and a 48 Hours episode was filmed about this situation. In 2013, I shared my story of grief and healing from this traumatic loss through post after post—and eventually, I went viral. My blog has received over 1,650,000 hits since it’s inception in 2011.
It was an extremely complex situation, and the more I process it through the years, the more I truly realize how complex and heart-breaking the whole situation was. So many hidden things, so many lies, so many heartbreaking realizations of how trauma and wounds perpetuate through generations.
Through this tragedy, I faced harsh realities like spiritual abuse, emotional abuse, PTSD, and mental health issues. Because so many things are not what they seem on the surface.
Besides this very life-altering tragedy, I’ve also had some very intense issues with Lyme Disease and other health-related problems, which has been a painful journey for me. I’ve experienced other deep heartbreaks and losses, as well as coming to terms with issues like emotional and spiritual abuse, trauma, PTSD, and childhood grief.
Over the past few years, I’ve begun deep personal study and education around how one heals from grief, wounds, and trauma. And what I’ve learned has profoundly changed my life. Healing is possible. I’ve seen it in my own life, and I’ve seen it in countless others.
My deepest desire is to see people heal from traumatic and painful circumstances, knowing that they are not alone in the seemingly earth-shattering experiences they have encountered. Because of my own struggles emotionally, physically, and spiritually, I’ve sought healing in a variety of ways through yoga, art, writing, sound, and movement–and I’m leading others into the light after darkness.
What Lies Ahead
The week of January 1, 2020, I moved to Rhode Island. New year. New decade. New job. Wow! I am planning to pursue a Master’s Degree in Clinical & Mental Health Counseling at Salve Regina University, as well as continue my own journey into being an artist, writer/poet, movement teacher, and healer.
No matter how difficult, I’ve come so far–and I’m excited for what lies ahead in this Great Adventure into the Unknown. I will continue to write, teach, create, and help others heal in whatever capacity the Universe brings my way.
This website is devoted to communicating about topics related to healing, art, writing, & movement. So read, think, feel… and find hope.
Never give up.
For you are never alone.
Featured Photos by Abby Mortensen
