Disclaimer: Today’s post contains disturbing content. As an inspirational modern women’s lifestyle blog, our mandate is…
Disclaimer: Today’s post contains disturbing content. As an inspirational modern women’s lifestyle blog, our mandate is…
We are not supposed to go down into the darkness of the core. Yet, if we can risk it, the something born of that nothing is the beginning of truth.” —Adrienne Rich
Readers, it was time to write about Edgar. My heart feels strangely lighter. A great weight has been lifted from my soul. Still, I couldn’t have written this story any earlier because my level of self-security was too low— and my thoughts about what happened took decades to coalesce. I wasn’t ready to confess to having so much shame either. Shame prefers to remain silent, and tiptoe around the attic like a reclusive ghost. Shame never comes downstairs to eat with everyone. Shame places you inside an invisible garbage bag, and everything that you are feels like it belongs in a dumpster—permanently. Also, the silence of deep shame is always at war with the possibilities for healing.
Just how bad was my drinking?
For years, it probably looked like yours: racing in from a long day at work, my arms full of groceries, I would pour myself a glass of wine to sip while I chopped vegetables and oversaw a little homework. Put something in the oven, top up the glass of wine. Refresh it for dinner, and switch to tea.
On Friday April 7th, I celebrated my birthday by sharing the day with 120 women in my first-ever conference, Off The Fence & WISE. Off The Fence & WISE became the collaboration of two Montreal empowerment brands: Women On The Fence and Wise Women Canada. The day was happy, it was funny, it was heavy, it was dark, it was uplifting, it was spirited. And it surpassed my greatest expectations.
Women’s Wellness & Growth Conference
Friday April 7th, 2017
—————–
Montreal, Quebec
buyticket
I couldn’t be more excited to make this announcement today, WomenOnTheFencers!
On April 7th, 2017, get ready to feel inspired, empowered, and armed with the tools to rock your life.
Combining our passion and dedication to empowering women, Lisa Brookman and Liz Wiener (WiseWomenCanada.com) and me, Erica Diamond (WomenOnTheFence.com), have joined forces and are excited to announce the launch of Off The Fence and WISE – Montreal’s first Women’s Wellness and Growth Conference aimed at helping women renew, regenerate and evolve to become their best selves.
This full-day conference is comprised of an impressive roster of some of Canada’s best known and most inspiring women speakers. Whether you’re an individual looking for personal growth or a company looking to empower your employees, the day is an excellent opportunity to learn invaluable lessons from our expert panel which is sure to foster growth and creativity.
Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.
— Mark Twain
If there’s one thing that no one in this world is exempt from, no matter how rich, how poor, how thin, how nice, how evil, how generous, WHATEVER… it’s AGING. Yes, we are all aging. And we are all fighting it at the exact same rate as the next person. Some will age better, some will age worse, but it’s a process we all must face, whether we like it or not.
It’s a fact, one in five Canadians will suffer from mental illness at some point in their lifetime. One of the biggest hurdles for anyone suffering from mental illness is overcoming the stigma. It is the number one reason why two-thirds of those living with a mental illness do not seek help.
Today is a day of awareness to end the stigma that keeps too many who struggle with mental illness from seeking the help they need.
This is my story.
A week ago, a woman named Erin Smith Chiez shared this on Facebook.
In the past few days, I have received quite a few private messages about a “game” going around where you post a heart, then you are secretly supposed to state it is for breast cancer awareness. This is my response to all of these messages.
Someone once posted a picture on Facebook of what breast cancer can look like. Not feel, but look like. In December of 2015 when I saw an indentation that looked like one of those pictures, I instantly knew I had breast cancer. I tried to feel for a tumor, but my tumor was non palpable. I was diagnosed with breast cancer 5 days later and with stage 4 the following month. A heart did nothing for awareness. I knew what breast cancer was. I knew all about self exams, but a picture of what to look for keyed me into knowing I had a terminal disease. We need to give REAL information, not cute hearts. Without having seen a picture randomly with real information, I wouldn’t have known what to look for. Do us a favor, stop playing games with my life and start truly helping people. Metastatic breast cancer treatment research and real awareness.
“Christmas is over, you’ve put on weight, it’s cold out, it’s dark out, your credit card bills are in, you’re not going to get another day off until March, and you’re tired.
You might even be depressed.
If so, you are not alone, especially not today. For today, according to one measure, is Blue Monday, the most depressing day of the year.” (Montreal Gazette)
Blue Monday sounds pretty gloomy. But for many, it truly is. For some, this January funk is a result of cold weather, overspending during the holidays, the dollar (if you’re Canadian), a relationship gone sour, or job dissatisfaction. For others, it’s something more serious.
As we age, most women eventually come to a wild crossroads, a confusing place where we must devise a new purpose, or formulate a new self-valuation. It’s a life phase of “fence sitting,” or, for those of us in our 40s and 50s, a time that’s — often disparagingly — referred to as the “midlife crisis.”
Sometimes this crisis is shy and easy, a tiny blip on the psychological radar. At other times, it roars in with a shattering bang and is dragged out slowly, kicking and screaming in handcuffs.
It may arrive with the empty nest, or earlier, with the first gray hairs. It might arrive because a divorce or death in the family leaves us seeking new companions. It might arrive because we’re unfortunately forced out of a job and need to forge new paths, or maybe because career-wise, we feel “stuck in a rut.”
I help busy women (like you!) prioritize self-care so you can experience less stress, more calm and greater joy every day!
