ABUSERS, TAKE NOTE - Part 2

Just the other day, I published a post titled "ABUSERS, TAKE NOTE!!" I was inspired to write that post because I have a dear friend who is experiencing emotional & verbal abuse, & her abuser is extremely controlling - so controlling in fact, that he determines things such as when the TV is allowed to be on, what setting the air conditioner MUST be set at, what is bought at the store, etc., & he is the one who sets the tone for the home. I have spent probably hundreds of hours trying to help my friend over the course of the past couple of years, because she has been dealing with this for such a long time. "Why doesn't she just leave?" you say? There are many reasons why a victim of abuse doesn't leave the abusive relationship. There are so many reasons in fact, that I have included just a few of the reasons why an abuse victim may not leave the abusive relationship:

What Are We Teaching Our Daughters? Take Miley Cyrus, for Example

I am quite sure that most people are over & done with hearing about Miley Cyrus' recent VMA performance. I know that I am! So I only reference it here to make a point about what we are teaching our daughters today. When my teenage daughter was a young girl, she was a huge Miley Cyrus fan. By huge, I mean that she had the backpack, bedspread & sheets, posters, CDs, clothes.....you name it, she had it. She was Miley Cyrus obsessed.

Pardon Me, Your Self-Esteem is Showing

Today boys & girls, we are going to talk about body image & self-esteem. Yes, it may seem like a silly topic for a blog post, but in flipping through the channels on our TV, & glancing at magazine covers as I'm waiting in line to check out at the grocery store, it has become so evident that this is a topic which does not receive enough attention. One only has to look at the tabloid magazine covers to see how much our society is drawn to images of celebrities being made fun of for having visible cellulite while wearing a bikini, or other magazine covers to learn the secret of losing weight & keeping it off.

On Being Shy

About age 9-10 Elementary School
Yarn - wasn't just for knitting!

I grew up painfully shy - so shy in fact, that I embarrassed my parents each time they introduced me to someone & I would turn my back to that person. When I was in Girl Scouts as a child, I had no friends to hang out with, because I was just too embarrassed to talk to anyone. I remember how at Girl Scout Camp, a scout leader asked me my name. I told her my name was Carol, which was my actual name (instead of Cari, that I go by now), but I said it so softly, that she thought I said Karen. I was Karen for the duration of my time at camp, & I lacked the courage to speak up & tell people otherwise. It's a terrible thing to be shy. You feel trapped in a prison of your own making, yet despite the fact that you have the power to unlock the door, you don't know how to do so.