Welcome and Introduction
I have been a lover of words for a long time. I was introduced to written words early in life, with parents who collected all kinds of magazines and books. My father’s recliner was always surrounded by multiple stacks of magazines nearly toppling over on the floor. He subscribed to everything from National Geographic to Reader’s Digest to Field and Stream, to Land’s End catalogue. As a kid, I looked forward to reading the harrowing survival stories described in three small pages in the monthly Reader’s Digest. While I ate my cereal, I made sure I knew every piece of information available on the cereal box, and today my companions grow weary of my thorough reading of the signs at the zoo.
I have taken in many words in writing and speaking over the course of my life. I have also thought about many words over the course of my life. The theme of most of my adult thinking has been the social and psychological whys and how’s for human behavior. In the last 10 years, my thinking has especially focused on trying to understand the reasons for child maltreatment as well as the factors that prevent child abuse and neglect.
That is some background about me in terms of my influences and orientations to words and the accumulation of words that might equate to knowledge. I say words might equate to knowledge, because not all words are facts, and we are living now in an abundance of words that do not contribute to factual knowledge.
Lately I have been trying to put limits on the words that I consume, and in the place of reading and listening to others I would like to share some of the stuff in my head through my own writing. I am finding it a difficult task to have the courage and the technical skills to share my words with the world. I have imposed and perceived many reasons to not write a blog. Finally, I am feeling that there are more reasons to go ahead and fricking do it (!)
Without trying to clutter the world with self-help platitudes and other forms of psychobabble (although this may happen if I find something interesting) I think I will just try to be me through writing a blog. “Being me” in my writing must come from understanding my own brand of unique. And also, from having humility for my own experiences of privilege as a white educated woman, and my own experiences of trauma as a girl victim of sexual assault. I can also write from my authentic self when I share both the light and dark sides of being human, for both myself and the people I have met in my work as a psychotherapist.
This blog is going to be about getting and staying mentally and physically well, the importance of being in compassionate communities, and AD/HD. I am pretty sure that I would not have found so many fascinating words to consume, if I weren’t the unique and wild blend of traits and neurology that I am. I hope that my spin on psychology, wellness, recovery, and community will be entertaining, informative, and validating to the readers who need it most. I especially hope that my words inspire readers to embrace their own unique blend of wonderful and wild.
Love,
Woo
