Nerd @ 190

I've spent the majority of my life desiring to be a helper.  Maybe I watched too much Mr. Rogers as a child. More likely, I spent to much time being the helper in my family of origin and at school. I went to grief therapy in elementary school.  I don't remember it at all, but seeing as I what I do remember about that time is that I felt distinctly unable to make a fuss, I'm sure it was super helpful.  #Sarcasm.During graduate school I saw a therapist for about a minute until I couldn't make that a priority. That's often how it went for me for a long time.  It wasn't the priority. I knew it was an issue, but we had bigger fish to fry. Possibly, that's why I didn't connect at all to Kay Hutchison's book My Life in Thirty-Seven Therapies. I received My Life in Thirty-Seven Therapies from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  I didn't enjoy the book, or finish it.  The book felt significantly longer than it truly was.  My Life in Thirty-...

My dear friend recently questioned the number of stars that I gave a recent memoir.  She said she had heard many complaints about the author's privileged point of view. The thing is, when I'm reading a memoir, it's a book I choose to read. I choose to take that person'ts point of view while I read their story, and I choose as well to respect it.  I've told you before what I'm looking for when I read a memoir.  I want the writer to give me intelligence, inspiration and  insight- hopefully into myself and the world as well as into the writer.  The truth is that it's a lot to ask from someone, so I don't also ask them to take on someone else's point of view.  I expect that the author gives space for me, a person very different than them, to be encouraged and entertained. The authors I've been reading are privileged and so is their point of view.  I'll express in my reviews when I find a book that is encompassing of all points of view.  I...

I received Dear Scott, Dearest Zelda from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.  This book is pure history, in possibly one of the most poetic forms possible. The letters that Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald wrote to each other are stunning.  Their emotions are spilled on the page in a way I expect could not be created by any lesser authors.  Their relationship is a great tragedy that even they felt necessary to fictionalize, and so reading through it is as easy as a novel.   The minimal notes do just enough to allow the reader an entire picture of their lives at the time of each letter.  I highly recommend this book for anyone looking to get to know these characters, the impact of mental illness, or get a personal picture of history. I felt deeply connected to Zelda as I read through her letters.  Zelda's story is a story of promise along with the impact of mental illness and the problems with institutionalized care.  There is no better way ...

At the end of every EMDR session, my counselor and I put whatever trauma we were working on in a container.  It's a container in my mind, and I use it for the things that are getting in the way of my life.  It's built the same way that my memory chest was.  In order to properly build it in my mind, I got rid of things in the actual memory chest that did nothing but take up space. I got rid of notes and letters from people that meant little or nothing to me. I got rid of old candles and toys. Everything left means something. It either directed me on my path, or is encouragement to continue.  The challenge that I'm left with is that I'm still carrying around all of these people that make my path harder. I've recently become obsessed with the Taylor Swift song I forgot that you existed . My nephew called it a mean song, in the way that a 9 year old half listening to a song might call it mean, but his words pulled at me, made me annoyed, and made me think. These peop...