Through the Eyes of a Mental Health Worker...

Moving to Catonsville in 2009, I fully established myself away from my fair Valley. There were stories and ridiculousness that happened in Six-Foot-Three, but after one too many floods, I decided it was time to become a homeowner. I moved into this new "Circle House" in February of 2013.

In the fall of 2013, I began graduate school at Muzume where I am learning how to "officially" become a therapist. After working at the Starship for over 5 years, my Big Kid Day Shift Job ended suddenly and traumatically in June 2014. Since then, I was seeking employment, landed an assistantship for teaching undergraduates, and generally had too much time to be a housefrau. I decided that undergraduates were fun for a semester, but wanted to go back into the field. I finally started being a crisis worker again at Kangaroo Hut in January 2015 and am trying to acclimate to client and coworker demands with balancing graduate school responsibilities. I am thisclose to finishing my graduate degree, and hope to sit for licensure at the end of Summer 2015.

I couldn't have accomplished any of this graduate-school-going-adventure if not for my partner, Fidget. Together since September 2010, he's the calm to my chaos, the man who's able to even out my keel when I spiral a bit. He's made me look at situations differently than I ever would have before, and I'm becoming more and more grateful to have him in my life as a true partner in crime and my co-conspirator. He's scary intelligent, comically unsocialized, and the sexiest walrus I know. I am fully under the impression that the Universe saw all of the craziness that was around me, then decided to send me Fidget so I could calm down for a spell. My life has been decidedly less ridiculous since he's come into my life. Maybe he stops me from spiraling off all crazy, or maybe his Awesome Walrus Powers keeps away the craziness from getting to me.

I also embarked on a healthy lifestyle change at the beginning of 2013, throwing myself into healthy food options and exercise. I lost 25 pounds in 2013. I went through a bit of a health upheaval with the loss of the Starship and then the death of a family member, so 2014 ended with me right back to where I was. I know I can't go back to being ignorant and inactive, but my health has faltered a bit, but I am slowly trailing behind that bandwagon for 2015!

This journal was created in 2001 when I was a freshman in college. Most of my life has been documented on here, with intermittent breaks for sanity. I am horribly Southern and do embellish a lot, but this is my method of documenting what has been happening in my life, as well as thoughts and feelings that need to get out.

So, tell me a story, and let me share one of mine.

I am a mental health worker in graduate school; I will be a therapist.

This journal is not only the journal about the trials of being a mental health worker, but also the tribulations of simply being one person with too many people out there that need help.

Maybe one day, you will seek out guidance for a particularly rough patch in your life...

... and maybe, you'll come see me.

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A Little Feedback Goes a Long Way
"You're so full of energy and fun. Nice to see! Even when things are crazy (ugh! car repairs!) you have an upbeat attitude underneath it all."
- dragon_moon, in this post.

"I [...] thought you were witty as hell... You are bright and devoted to the people you love. "
- serene_orange, in this post, QWP.

"I love your opinion on things more than just about anybody else I know because a.) you are open minded, and I know that it would be very hard to offend you, therefore, I don't have to scrutinize everything I say. b.) You are one of the most intelligent people. Ever. The end. You have one of those 'critical thinking' minds that are really rare anymore."
- folkdeath95, in this post.

"You sure sound like a very grounded and responsible person. I respect that. You sound like you have good follow-through and persistance. That's important...to finish what you start and do what you say you will. People tend to trust and respect a person like that. Great qualities to have."
- thesuthernangel, in this post.

"So I've come to the conclusion whilst long laborous hours of indecision and rework, that you have the most entertaining, side-winding, orgasmic, youthful, epic enducing use of verbage that I have ever seen. I don't believe I've ever read you at a loss for words, and I dare say anytime would be too soon. Please continue."
- maidenforce, in this post.

"Would you be a good book to read? I certainly think you'd be a good book to read, but living as I do in the Bible Belt, I'm not sure if the sale or printing of you would be entirely legal."
- Mike Roberts, in this post.

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"Guard well your spare moments. They are like uncut diamonds. Discard them and their value will never be known. Improve them and they will become the brightest gems in a useful life."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Why is it that our memory is good enough to retain the least triviality that happens to us, and yet not good enough to recollect how often we have told it to the same person?"
- Francois de La Rochefoucauld

"If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail."
- Abraham Maslow

"We learned that science is a territory of freedom and friendship in the midst of tyranny and hatred."
- Freeman Dyson

"Humans are lead by four things: feed, fight, flight, and fornicate. And they're all connected with pain and pleasure."
- FBI Agent Drew Haley, Crossing Jordan

"Funny thing about black and white. You mix it together and you get grey. And it doesn't matter how much white you try and put back in, you're never gonna get anything but grey."
- Lilah Morgan, Angel

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Puppet Angel Mood Theme made by raebird

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