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himbohargreeves · 4 years

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The link between diet and autism: a critical analysis of the recent Earth Locker episode and a chance for River to relive her lab report title writing days

Link to the original video

So as I already mentioned I’ve seen a few people talking about the recent episode of the Earth Locker (a podcast by Robert Sheehan, Tom Hopper, and Bryon Knight) where they talk with Tom and his wife Laura about their experiences raising their autistic son. I watched the whole episode and while there were a lot of good points made, there was also some misinformation, statements that were poorly explained and could be misinterpreted, and a couple of pretty harmful ideas put across which I’m gonna go into below.

Disclaimer one: I’m gonna be saying a lot of stuff that I’m not going to be posting sources for. This is because everything I’m saying comes from my experiences as an autistic person, my experiences working as a support worker for adults with autism where I am currently a key worker for two autistic individuals, my work related training on autism, mental health, and diet & nutrition, and my knowledge from my psychology degree in which I also spent a lot of time studying biology and physiology. This is all just stuff that I know, and at some point I might try to add some sources but I’m writing this fresh off watching and making notes on this video so my energy is already running a little low and I’d rather focus on getting my points across instead of having to take time to source every piece of information.

Disclaimer two: The purpose of this post isn’t to attack or defend any of the people involved in the podcast. This is also in no way a criticism of Tom and Laura’s parenting. This is purely a criticism of the discussion that took place on the podcast, not on any of the choices they’ve made for their son.

Disclaimer three: I’m going to be using the phrase “challenging behaviour” a lot while I’m explaining things as this is the term used in most modern research and is what we use at work. This basically describes any behaviour that causes harm to the individual or to other people around them, or behaviour that is detrimental to the individual’s wellbeing.

So the main thing I want to go into with this is the misinformation and misinterpretation of information that was central to the discussion in this podcast, and that was around the connection between diet and autism. Most of the things Tom and Laura said about the effects of diet weren’t incorrect, but it wasn’t explained accurately and missed out on some key points so let’s go:

In terms of whether diet can “cause” autism: no it can’t. There’s absolutely no evidence to suggest it does. It also can’t “worsen” autism because autism isn’t something that can get “worse” or “better”. A person with autism can develop and learn new skills and they can also regress (and diet can influence this, which I’ll go into further on), but an autistic person at a lower stage of development does not have “worse” autism than a person at a higher stage of development.

Poor diet can have an impact on autistic people in the same way as with neurotypical people. If we eat junk, we tend to feel like junk as a result, and when we feel like junk it can be harder to concentrate and carry out our usual day to day tasks. However, autistic people are also significantly more likely to suffer from digestive problems and food intolerances, and so for a lot of autistic people (or parents of autistic children) diet may be something that requires close attention. So saying that an autistic individual’s challenging behaviour could be a result of their diet isn’t necessarily untrue, but it does massively oversimplify the issue. The challenging behaviour is more likely a response to pain or discomfort, (as well as frustration if they are unable to communicate this), which is caused by a diet unsuitable for this specific individual, which is caused by an intolerance or digestive problem, which they were at greater risk of developing due to their autism. It’s worth mentioning that medical professionals still don’t know why this comorbidity exists.

So, referring back to Tom and Laura’s experience with their son, they were explaining that their son’s challenging behaviour spiked while he was on a high-sugar diet. Laura also added that he had been suffering from increasingly frequent infections in his ears and throat while eating these foods, which makes sense because high blood sugar levels can weaken the immune system and make us more susceptible to infections. They then explained that these infections stopped following a tonsillectomy and a change to a sugar-free diet, which then also lead to a complete reduction in their son’s challenging behaviours. Again, implying that the reduction in behaviours is a result of cutting out the sugar is oversimplifying. It’s most likely that their son’s challenging behaviours were a response to the pain the infections were causing, which may or may not have been linked to his sugar intake. Either way, autistic people are all individuals and so while a reduction in sugar intake has benefited their son, by no means does that mean that all autistic people should be following a low-sugar diet or that this would be beneficial for them.

This isn’t entirely on topic but there are two other things I want to address in terms of what Tom and Laura said while talking about their son, the first being when talking about their initial approach to their children's’ diet before they were aware that their son was autistic. Laura essentially said that she wanted their children to be able to try different foods and that the focus would be on education about health and diet rather than cutting “unhealthy” foods out of their diets completely, which I thought was a great way to approach things. However she then added that, had they known about their son’s autism at the time, they may have approached things differently, which I was confused about. I think (and hope) she was just trying to say that if they had known upfront that sugar particularly seemed to be detrimental to their son, they would have reduced that straight away rather than having to use a process of trial and error which makes sense, but just the way it was phrased set off alarm bells because it sounded like she was implying that they would have controlled his diet more strictly if they had known he was autistic. Hopefully this isn’t the case because autistic people don’t need to have their choices limited if there is no detriment to their health or wellbeing.

Another thing I was confused about, and I’m not sure if this was supposed to be more of a weird analogy rather than factual information, was when Tom started talking about “sensory glands” when talking about their son’s hypersensitivity to sounds. I think his exact words were something along the line of saying that the high sugar levels were causing his “sensory glands” to “swell” which was heightening his sensitivity. And like... unless I missed something there is no such thing as a sensory gland and they certainly don’t swell up when we’re over stimulated or when we have a lot of sugar. Sugar triggers high dopamine responses in our brains which then leads to cravings and can cause spikes and crashes in mood, and it can also cause inflammation, all of which can cause discomfort and in turn could lead to an increase in sensitivity, but as far as I know sugar doesn’t have a direct effect on our senses.

Now on to the elephant in the room and the two big, glaring no-no's in this podcast, both of which were said by Tom (these are not direct quotes because I didn’t get a chance to jot them down in time so I’m paraphrasing slightly):

“we cannot ignore the correlation between rising autism rates and the increase in fast food consumption” (spoiler alert: yes we can)

“I really want to get to the cause of autism and see if there’s something that can be done to prevent it”

So, first of all, autism isn’t something that needs to be prevented. Autistic people are not a detriment to society. We don’t have an illness, we just experience the world differently and, in some cases, require additional support to live our lives as fully as possible. Obviously it can’t be ruled out that fast food, or anything else, has a part to play in rising rates, but there is absolutely no evidence to suggest that it does and correlation absolutely does not equal causation. Gay representation in the media has also been steadily rising with rates of autism diagnosis. Does this mean that seeing gay people on TV makes people autistic? No. As Laura briefly mentioned, it is far more likely that the rising rates are actually due to an increase in understanding about autism and the accessibility of diagnosis, especially when you consider how many people are still slipping under the radar even with all the knowledge we have today.

I appreciate that most of this podcast is just a conversation between friends about various topics, but when the goal of this podcast is to “raise awareness”, and with the shared platform the people involved have, casual statements like these are incredibly dangerous. With the general implication that if everyone lived a healthy, clean, and organic lifestyle, we could reduce the number of autistic people in our society, this not only puts the “blame” on parents of autistic people, and on the individuals themselves, but is also dipping into eugenics territory. And while I don’t think the intentions behind either statement were malicious, they were incredibly ignorant, and the fact that they went completely unchallenged was concerning and made me pretty uncomfortable.

There were still a lot of positives in the podcast. I’m really glad Laura was also involved because she definitely came across as being the most educated on the subject of the four of them and did make a point of bringing up issues with diagnosis (particularly among girls with autism), her and Tom’s privilege in terms of being able to work with doctor’s to find out as much as possible about their son’s dietary needs and to then provide him with a tailored diet, and also addressing the issues with “high functioning vs low functioning” when Rob asked about the “severity” of their son’s autism. However there was still an undeniable amount of inaccurate or poorly presented information, as well as some things that were just plain incorrect and offensive. I appreciate that a lot of this was coming from personal experience rather than being generalised information, but I think this could have been communicated a lot more clearly and effectively considering the intention was to spread awareness, and the episode would have massively benefitted from the input of an autistic adult. Rob specifically had a lot of questions about autism in general and I think they would have been much better answered by somebody with autism, rather than a parent giving an outside perspective of their child’s experiences. It’s always a little uncomfortable to watch four neurotypical people discuss autism, regardless of how positive their intentions are, and I don’t think it would have been a great challenge for them to find an autistic person who would have been willing to talk about the topic with them.

#YES it took me two hours to write this NO I won't elaborate #tom hopper #robert sheehan #the earth locker

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galaxy-parchment · 4 years

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Vampire AU

1 : 2 : 3 : 4 : 5 : 6 : 7 : 8 : 9 : 10 : 11 (you are here) : 12 : 13 : 14 : 15 (coming soon)

I swear every time I write a chapter I’m like ‘oh yeah thats long enough’ and then I check the word count and it’s actually a really short chapter. When this finally gets posted to A/O3 I might just merge some chapters because this is turning out to have way more chapters than I expected.

Frankenstein was babbling about her misadventures as a disgraced hermit proudly as the lodgers were huddled up in front of her with their legs crossed as if they were children enthusiastically listen to their grandfather regale his exciting tales of war.

“For two long months I wandered that godforsaken forest, surviving on nothing but rain water and lizard guts! Tormented day and night by my own personal demon!” She regaled, gesturing to Creature, who was uncomfortably huddled up beside her bed and reluctantly listening to the woman tell her exaggerated stories.

Henry stepped through the crowd with a large case held carefully in his hands as he shooed off the lodgers so that he could treat Frankenstein, who was anything but happy to see him and seemed to be deciding whether or not to slap him across the face again.

He gingerly placed his chemistry kit on a nearby table as Frankenstein’s face remained annoyed and mistrusting. She gave a heavy huff of breath and turned away from him.

“I thought I told you to leave me alone” she said, struggling through coughs between her words.

“Regardless of either of our feelings I’m afraid I’m going to have to treat you, or your ‘personal demon’ over there may have something to say about it” he half-joked, Creature making no move to deny his statement. “besides, what sort of an alchemist would I be if I couldn’t cure someone as esteemed as yourself?” he said, holding up a flask from his chemistry kit.

“I have no doubt that you will kill me with your amateur skills!” Frankenstein retorted, glaring at him.

Jekyll continued to engage in intellectual banter while he mixed the ingredients to the antidote. Frankenstein was becoming increasingly alarmed at his deep knowledge of alchemy but refused to show any hint of weakness. As he finished the medicine, there was a pregnant pause, though Frankenstein was simply waiting for Jekyll to finish up and finally leave. He held the mixture up in front of his eyes and peered into it, checking that it was completed, then lowered it down in front of him before looking at Frankenstein more seriously than he had before.

“I must admit, I have a favour to ask of you…” he said firmly.

Frankenstein chuckled, “Ah! So you admit that your skills are inferior!”

Jekyll sighed, “No… it’s something different… I noticed that you seem to have become quite popular among the lodgers, I don’t think I need to explain why.”

“Yes? I know this.” Frankenstein answered, raising an eyebrow.

“I was hoping you’d look out for any strange behaviour that I may be missing, since they’ve been acting far more comfortable with you than have been with me recently.”

“Perhaps they are seeing through your lies. This is your own fault, I am simply revealing the truth to them!”

“This isn’t about me, it’s about keeping everybody safe!” Jekyll said, the anger is his voice was clear though stifled.

“What sort of strange behaviour then, Doctor? Signs of showing free will? Signs of the spark of creativity breaking away from the chains of London aristocracy?”

“No! I mean if they’re acting suspicious in any way, you know, if anyone has been acting like…” he stopped short, circling his hand through the air absently, unsure of whether to continue. This was an awful idea, why did he even consider asking her to do this.

“Like what? I cannot look for something if I do not know what I am looking for,” she insisted.

“Can I trust you to keep quiet? At least to the lodgers?”

She pondered for a moment and looked up at Creature, who simply nodded. She turned back to him with a curious grin on her face, “Very well, we will keep a secret.” Jekyll was silent for what felt like an eternity, but snapped himself back into reality and straightened his back out of the slight slouch it had sunk into.

“I think one of the lodgers is a vampire, you’re really the only one I can trust at this point since you couldn’t possibly be the vampire” He said quickly, forcing it out of himself before he could make up a lie and avoid the problem.

“I thought that Hyde fellow was a vampire?” Frankenstein asked. It seemed even the presence of the great Doctor Frankenstein couldn’t deter the lodgers from their gossiping.

“I have reason to believe that there was a second vampire with him on the night that you arrived, someone familiar with the Society. I’m sure you know how serious of an issue vampires are, especially in a crowded building like this.”

Frankenstein face was riddled with alarm, but she was determined not to show weakness in front of her sworn enemy and kept a strong gaze with him.

“I suppose I can look out for anything, since I’m sure someone as inexperienced as you could not possibly be able to see fine details as a good scientist can,” she smiled, “Besides, it will be fun to watch you learn the consequences of being an untrustworthy siren that knows nothing of the personal lives of the people he seeks to scrub clean.”

“Whatever makes you feel better, then. Here, this'll suppress your cough."

“Do you really expect me to drink this? Just because I’m helping you does not mean that I’ll swallow whatever mediocre mixture you put in front of me!”

“But how will you prove me wrong?” Jekyll asked, raising it further towards her.

She glared at him, annoyed by his logic, but nonetheless held her hand out expectantly. She took a long gulp and was quiet for a moment, observing the notable lack of scratchiness in her throat that she’d been subjected to for so long.

“Bah, just because you managed to… to…” Frankenstein’s eyes drooped and she felt the need to lie back onto her pillow. Jekyll smiled sweetly and pulled the bedcovers back over her.

“I may have added a touch of Moonsoaked Howlite to help you rest. I’m sure it will help you sleep on our agreement, since I’d be best that we fix the situation before the exhibition.”

“Ah, this is not happening”

“Well you’ve already agreed to help me so I’d appreciate for you to keep to your word.”

“No, I mean your exhibition is not happening, I already explained to your lodgers how this is a trap to lure them into the sedating poppy fields of the bourgeoisie,” she yawned and welcomed the overwhelming need to rest, laying down on her pillow, “Naturally, they all agreed to quit.” Jekyll stopped and stared at her in horror.

“What?”

Jekyll spent what felt like an eternity standing over the bed, processing the information. Creature finally shifted from where he sat and spoke up.

“That’s quite a problem you have there”

“I’ll say, how are we supposed to stay open if nobody participates in the exhibition!”

“No, I mean your vampire problem, they’re quite dangerous when left unchecked,” Creature said simply, looking at Jekyll very intently.

“Yes, they are,” he closed up his chemistry kit and lifted it off of the table. He carried it out the door as Creature dismissed him.

“Do be careful, Doctor, I’d hate to see any harm come to my creator or to yourself.”

Jekyll didn’t bother replying.

The Society seemed less crowded with all of the fuss over Frankenstein. Not a soul in the building was occupied with anything other than swooning over the new resident celebrity or engaging in excited chatter in their rooms to stop themselves from giving into the temptation of sneaking up to her room. The lights were all turned off in the lobby, leaving an eerie darkness that Lanyon could see through easily, watching what few movements occurred in the building pondered what to do about Hyde. No matter how he went about it, he kept on wandering back to doing something particularly horrible.

He could frame Hyde. It would be easy. Everyone knew that he was a vampire, so all he really had to do was leave a few harmless clues, maybe make a targeted if deliberately unsuccessful attack. It would certainly be low of him to scare the lodgers like that but it was definitely an effective move.

Hyde was a menace, it was justified, he just needed to scare Henry into firing him. He couldn’t possibly come to any other conclusion if he did something as heinous as attempting to attack someone. Nobody would even get hurt in the process, it was foolproof, even if it was quite the backstab. Lanyon wasn’t one for lingering on his feelings anyway.

From his silent position by one of the pillars on the ground level, he spied Luckett sneaking off with Doddle, both of them giggling like teenage courters and obviously intending to have one of the ‘sleepovers’ that were so uncomfortably common within these walls. It was as good an opportunity as any, so Lanyon sighed and pushed himself off of the pillar, determined to get to work.

#the glass scientists #tgs #fanficition #vampire au #henry jekyll #robert lanyon #frankenstein #creature #edward hyde #stg breaking away from canon events in a fic like this is so difficult #if anyone has tips please tell me #galaxywrites

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pleiadesounds · 5 years

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HIR ESTRIK

Luke Davies is a musician and music teacher from Penzance, Cornwall, but, like many of his fellow Cornish musicians, is based in Brighton. I first met Luke through his playing guitar for Rope, a heavy, slow, melodic post-hardcore band, but rather than talking about Rope, I wanted to focus on his wonderful experimental project ‘Hir Estrik’, in which he experiments with aspects of Neo-Classical, Musique Conrete and Sound Installation. His recent piece ‘Wild Music’ is a wonderful example of Luke’s unique approach to music, with as much focus on time, place, history and environment as on key, tempo or dynamics. It seems to me that the project represents a musician exploring his creative environment and boundaries in a way I rarely feature on Pleiadesounds, and I was excited to pick Luke’s brain about the project.

PLEIADESOUNDS What prompted you to begin a project like Wild Music?

LUKE DAVIES The project set out with the installation ‘In Sea’ which I presented as my final thesis for a master’s degree at Sussex University last year. It was in some ways a culmination of previous projects of soundtracking for media and an analogue audio/visual installation. The development process felt very organic and things just seemed to fall into place as I worked on it over a few months. The technical and compositional aspects, however, took a little longer to get from brain to a more tangible thing. My focus has always been in composition. I would really like to compose both on a personal level but also for various media (tv/film etc). At uni I was encouraged, for the first time, to really explore something new and to follow passions rather than do something overly safe. My first project involved creating a visual ‘documentary’ (I’m using that term extremely loosely here) looking at Cornish heritage using mostly found footage from old archive material. After editing the short film I wrote and recorded a score to go alongside. My second project was an analogue tape based sound instillation/performance. I took proven failed rhetoric from politicians and created a long tape loop from these soundbites. I then distorted and destroyed this loop slowly over time whilst playing and manipulating various other analogue loops and effects to create an increasingly oppressive and uncomfortable piece. The idea was to show how corrosive and destructive this rhetoric is, but unless any sort of action is taken to counter it then it can only become increasingly worse. WM started very much as an extension, combination and development of these two projects.

PS What are some of your goals with Wild Music?

LD To begin with the main goal was to complete my course. That’s not to dismiss the project in anyway, there is a lot of theory underlining the concept, but it wasn’t until a few different thought processes came together that I saw the potential of exploring WM further. That could be in new locations or exploring new techniques to incorporate the environment compositionally. The places and spaces that Wild Music could occupy are almost endless and I would love the chance to see where it could go. I have ideas for woodlands, mountain terrain and more open spaces. I would love the idea of people coming across a sound space in the middle of nowhere and just pausing with it for a moment or two.

PS Do you see Wild Music being more of a therapeutic experience or as an artistic installation?

LD I guess it sits somewhere between the two. It was created as an installation piece to be visited and experienced in person rather than on a screen or through a device. The idea of physically having to go to a natural space is very important to me. However, the driving ideology behind WM was the notion of creating a ‘sort of' therapeutic experience or meditative space for an individual within that environment . I want WM to give the subject a chance to focus on the sonic elements and its connection with the physical space and finally their place in the situation and their overall connection to everything. I did a lot of research on audio/visual stimuli and their effects on our mental health and tried to play on that within the experience.

PS What is the meaning behind the name ‘hir estrik’?

LD It means ‘long absence’ in Cornish. Cornwall holds a very special place in my heart and the longer I have lived away, the more I have craved eventually returning. I guess the use of ‘hir estrik’ could represent a bunch of different things, both literally and figuratively.

PS How do you see ‘hir estrik’ being translated into a live show?

LD This is something I think about regularly, but quickly dismiss. Currently, ‘hir estrik’ and what it is to me is something that I am exploring. I want to be confident that the music I do put out is something that I am 100% happy with. The flip side is that it is often a very slow process. I’m working on getting better at this. To attempt a live version, I would possibly need a few extra hands to really present the music how I would like it. Thankfully lots of my friends play music too, so not out of the question. But for now I am keeping things behind a desk I reckon. I can exercise my itch for playing live in other areas thankfully.

PS What is the significance of naming all the tracks on hir estrik’s latest album, Themes as dates?

LD The tracks are very lazily named after the days that I wrote them. I was at a period of uncertainty in my life; I had just completed my MA, was looking for work in that field or other musical ventures and had a whole host of other life crap to deal with. I wanted to focus my energy onto something positive and used my vast amount of free time to create an audio diary over a few days. Forcing myself to write and finish a track the same day was also a way of me trying to quicken my processes and train myself to be a little less precious over every detail. It was interesting to look back over the tracks a few weeks and months afterwards. The similarities and differences of the tracks in terms of structures, instrumentation etc. really do speak of the way I was viewing a lot of things at the time. It helped me start to break a bit of a negative cycle that I was getting myself into.

PS Both of your solo projects are quite organic, soft and ambient, quite in contrast to the heavy, riffy Rope. How does hir estrik Luke differ from Rope Luke?

LD In some ways I see very little difference between the two projects. They are both ways for me to express myself as a musician, but I take different things from each process. However, there is a stark difference between creating individually and working with others. With Rope, I get to collaborate with the rest of the band, both compositionally and in a live environment. We all play well off each other and that creates a very organic feel to both the music and how we play it. Very rarely would I play the same way each time, my approach is very driven by the moment and the interactions with others. But Rope is very much the sum of its working parts and we all present something different that makes us what we are, something I am a big fan of. With hir estrik, on the other hand, I am completely left to my own devices, and this can be both a positive and a negative. From a composing point, I create a lot more on my own. It just then needs to get past my inner critic, who is a pain. I have way too many unfinished projects on the go at the moment. My approach to both outlets and my end goal remains the same, to make music and be at peace with the outcome.

PS What are you currently working on? What can we expect to hear from you in the future?

LD There are lots of words and plans scribbled in note books for both Rope and hir estrik, it’s just working out when and how to action these things best. With Rope there will hopefully be some new music released and a bunch of shows and short tours throughout the year. We have just started writing and demoing for our third LP and have some other ideas floating around that we hope to be able to pull off. For hir estrik there will be a lot more music slowly appearing. I have plans for a few short EP’s over the year, some more piano led and another more guitar focused. But I will cross those bridges as they become more apparent over time. Wild Music is a project that I hope to play out over a longer period of time. Music as physical art and instillations are a very new area to me, and I am learning a lot as I go. I’m going to look for funding and potential spaces to implement the project. I have a lot of plans for ways to improve the technological aspect and present on a bigger scale, but these things obviously come at a cost. My biggest downfall comes in self promotion, I feel very uncomfortable talking about myself or my work and projects. I guess it would be best to keep an eye on or follow the various social media outlets of each project to see the outcomes of these plans.

HIR ASTRIK

Soundcloud Youtube Wild Music

ROPE

Bandcamp Facebook Instagram

Text by Kai Woolen Lewis, Photographs by Monique Poirier

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thisdaynews · 5 years

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How McConnell's coal guy is helping Trump remake federal energy policy

New Post has been published on https://thebiafrastar.com/how-mcconnells-coal-guy-is-helping-trump-remake-federal-energy-policy/

How McConnell's coal guy is helping Trump remake federal energy policy

Neil Chatterjee’s critics say he has instituted a top-down management style they contend places a priority on feedback from political allies and appointees over the findings of career staffers at the agency. | Ben Hider/Getty Images for Concordia Summit

Energy & Environment

Critics say FERC, the independent overseer of power markets and pipelines, is at risk of becoming a tool of the administration.

Add the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to the list of technocratic regulatory agencies thrown into turmoil as President Donald Trump’s appointees seek to steer its agenda.

Current and former regulators, staffers and industry officials say Trump and his chosen chairman, former Mitch McConnell aide Neil Chatterjee, have politicized an independent agency typically known for nonpartisan rulemaking on issues including natural gas pipelines and regional power markets. The dissension has made it difficult to retain staff, fill a vacant commissioner post and issue rulings on critical issues facing the nation’s electricity supply.

Story Continued Below

The tension has escalated in the past two years as the White House and Energy Secretary Rick Perry have pressed FERC to endorse financial support packages for economically ailing coal and nuclear plants — many supplied with coal or owned by allies of the president.

The climate at FERC has become so politically charged that one Republican state regulator turned down a potential appointment to a vacant seat on the commission — normally a major honor — after being approached by someone on behalf of the White House, according to three sources familiar with the situation.

“The current state of discourse in Washington made me question whether I would be able to influence our national energy policy, or effect any change for that matter,” said the regulator, who asked not to be identified because of ongoing business with FERC.

Interviews with more than a dozen current and former FERC regulators, staff and industry officials reveal widespread concerns about the agency’s direction under Chatterjee, a former staffer for the Senate majority leader who critics say behaves more like a political operative than a regulator.

“We’ve had a few eyebrow-raising departures of senior staffers who were nowhere near retirement age that are a real loss,” outgoing Commissioner Cheryl LaFleur, a nine-year agency veteran nominated by former President Barack Obama, told POLITICO last month. “I think there’s been a sense of increased politicization and partisanship that’s had an impact on the culture.”

Anxiety over FERC’s increasingly politicized atmosphere extends to the chairman’s personal conduct.

In recent months, the chairman has engaged in public Twitter battles with reporters and ridiculed news articles critical of him at FERC open meetings. Early in his tenure, he invoked his work for McConnell — whom he called “the master” — to support a coal and nuclear bailout.

Chatterjee has also posted barbed content online, including telling one activist who disrupted a FERC meeting to “come at me, bro.” And he has recently lent support to the Trump administration’s energy agenda, tweeting his support for “freedom gas” — liquefied natural gas exports that rely on approval from his commission.

Some staffers said Chatterjee’s comments and conduct didn’t affect their work. But other senior officials said the rank and file took the tweets as the chairman aligning himself with the White House.

“The tweets about the freedom gas, freedom molecules and all that crap — that in my view is him [saying], ‘I’m working for the administration here. This is what I care about,’” said one former senior staffer, speaking anonymously to POLITICO because they, like other sources in this story, still do regular business with FERC.

Chatterjee called the criticism “unfair,” saying it ignores bipartisan achievements of his tenure, including new market rules for energy storage and the approval of five liquefied natural gas export facilities.

“I dispute the contention that our work is political and I will point to the over 1,000 orders that we have put out, our bipartisan vote on storage, our bipartisan vote on five LNG orders, our bipartisan vote on a number of pipelines,” and others, he said in an interview.

But Chatterjee’s critics say he has instituted a top-down management style they contend places a priority on feedback from political allies and appointees over the findings of career staffers at the agency.

In the past, technical staff would regularly arrange policy briefings for the chairman and other regulators to “get them up to speed” on critical market issues, said one former senior staffer. But since the beginning of the Trump administration, “we just had kind of stopped doing that almost entirely.”

“I do think there is a general sense of frustration now that the chairman just doesn’t seem that involved or interested in the work,” said another former staffer. “He is very good at being external. That’s where he thrives. But the flip side of that is I think it’s harder to get his interest in the work unless it’s one of his pet things.”

Much of FERC’s electricity market policymaking falls under three of its eight main offices — Energy Policy and Innovation, Electric Reliability and Energy Markets and Regulation. All three have seen their leaders depart since Trump was elected.

Records from FERC and the Office of Personnel Management show that overall employment at FERC dipped to its lowest level at the end of last year since the beginning of the Obama administration, when the agency had staffed up to take on new responsibilities granted by Congress.

One career FERC employee who departed during Chatterjee’s tenure told POLITICO it seemed that “politics became more important than actual policymaking.”

“It was frustrating being there and trying to get work done and not being able to get that work done,” said the former staffer. “We’d send something to [the chairman’s] office and wait months and months and months to hear back on anything. And then at the same time, he’s out there doing speeches, and it just seemed like the policy work and the regulation was not the priority.”

Chatterjee is quick to point out that the office heads left either before he arrived at FERC or during the chairmanship of Kevin McIntyre, who stepped down last year. McIntyre died of brain cancer in January.

“I can tell you, I walk the halls enough,” Chatterjee said. “I get a good feeling from the people I ride the elevators with and see in various meetings and to me what I’ve seen is positive morale here.”

Chatterjee’s allies point out that turnover is common at federal agencies, particularly among senior staff who can make more money in the private sector. His Republican colleague, Commissioner Bernard McNamee, defended the chairman and his staff.

“I see, on all the issues, great leadership from Chairman Chatterjee,” McNamee told POLITICO, “especially in a difficult situation where we don’t have a full complement of members and where there has been some dramatic change in this building.”

As the ranks of career staffers have thinned, some at FERC have noticed an uptick in the number and influence of political staff. In particular, critics are skeptical of General Counsel James Danly and former chief of staff Anthony Pugliese, neither of whom had substantial energy experience before Chatterjee chose them.

“My background is different than others who have served at this commission. I have been in Washington Republican circles for a long time and I get recommendations from people I know and trust,” Chatterjee said. “I was not pressured. I was not told I had to hire anybody on. I got recommendations from people that I know and trust and I happen to be in a position where I know a lot of people throughout political Washington, but that doesn’t influence the people that I’m bringing into the agency.”

The chairman declined to detail those recommendations or who supplied them.

As Chatterjee draws the commission closer to White House priorities, industry officials are increasingly concerned it may soon return to one of Trump’s central energy priorities — keeping uncompetitive coal and nuclear plants from closing.

Perry proposed a financial support plan for the generators in 2017. Though Chatterjee voted against the plan in a unanimous January 2018 decision, he included a concurring statement that made clear he would have preferred a short-term bailout for the plants, many owned by allies of the president.

Since then, Chatterjee has turned the commission to focus on the subject of “fuel security” — the ability of plants to store fuel onsite. Coal and nuclear owners say that capability gives their fuel sources important national security advantages over wind, solar and natural gas, the alternatives that have been gaining ground in power markets around the country.

The coal and nuclear companies and their allies at DOE and on Capitol Hill have been clear they see the fuel security discussion as a second chance to help the plants.

In June, a senior DOE official told FERC it should “recognize the spirit” of the rejected DOE plan by enacting fuel security measures. And last week, two coal state senators piled on, calling on Trump to nominate new FERC regulators so the commission can take steps to benefit the at-risk plants.

“Then we can try to find some ways to allow them to think creatively within the law in a way that’s maybe more realistic than what Secretary Perry put forward,” North Dakota Republican Sen. Kevin Cramer told POLITICO. “Not that what he put forward was bad — I supported it — but it evidently made them too uncomfortable. So we have to kind of thread the needle.”

“I wish whoever [Trump] has in charge of that would either do their job or get someone else to do it,” added West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, who has long called for FERC to support coal.

Many people who follow FERC, however, are concerned that the agency won’t wait for the addition of new regulators to move on fuel security. LaFleur is set to step down at the end of August, leaving Chatterjee a 2-1 majority to advance the plan with McNamee, who helped craft the original bailout plan at DOE before he joined the commission.

Not all industry officials are confident FERC will move ahead, but many expect regulators will advance the issue in a piecemeal fashion, slowly instituting market-by-market changes to help coal and nukes.

“DOE is very much looking to have more direct influence over FERC,” said a senior industry official who participates in one of the regional power markets that the commission oversees. “You’re going to see that first hand when they try to move some of that fuel security nonsense.”

Chatterjee called those concerns “absurd” and said the fuel security discussion is not connected to the rejected DOE plan.

“People are connecting dots and then making inferences and speculating” on fuel security, he said. “I’m not gonna comment on something that has no basis in anything we’re doing before the commission.”

As Chatterjee’s FERC has turned to White House priorities like LNG exports and fuel security, critics say it is ignoring a more important obligation: making sure power markets function effectively.

Last June, FERC threw out rules for the 13-state electricity market that serves much of the East Coast and Midwest, ruling that state-level subsidies for renewables and nuclear were unfairly putting coal- and gas-fired plants at a disadvantage. More than a year on, FERC has been unable to come up with a replacement, and the delay has twice forced the regulators to delay a multibillion-dollar auction meant to ensure adequate power supplies.

Chatterjee’s allies blamed the impasse on a commission that has been deadlocked 2-2 since McIntyre’s death, but others cite what they say is the chairman’s unwillingness to work for compromise with his colleagues.

In the past, regulators and staff would have “mind numbingly long conversations” about a single paragraph to arrive at a unanimous decision, said one senior staffer. But Chatterjee “has more of a [Capitol] Hill mentality of I’m going to write the order, I’m going to shop the order and if people will vote for the order I’ve written, then great.”

Others say the chairman is simply stalling — waiting for LaFleur to step down so he and McNamee can push through rules friendlier to fossil fuel plants.

Though Chatterjee has frequently denied political influence throughout his tenure, critics say his behavior has changed little since he first took the reins of the commission.

As recently as May, the chairman posted a photo to his personal Instagram wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with “cocaine Mitch” — a derisive nickname for McConnell coined by coal magnate Don Blankenship that the majority leader’s allies have reclaimed as an admiring nickname. The photo was accompanied by a caption that read “proud cartel member.”

While FERC regulators have had Senate allies in the past, commissioners have typically avoided such an overt sign of political allegiance, said Alison Silverstein, an aide to former Republican FERC Chairman Pat Wood III.

“Morale would have been very low in our day had we done something like this,” she said, “but this administration is not normal. Most of the people who have been appointed by this administration seem to be perfectly comfortable with inserting personal views and politics into the management of agencies which have heretofore been apolitical and strictly professional.”

When asked about the post, Chatterjee replied with a reference to a sarcastic tweet that McConnell’s team had sent out after Blankenship lost his West Virginia Senate primary.

“Thanks for playing, Gavin,” he emailed.

Anthony Adragna contributed to this report.

#energy #Foreign #policy #Politics

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airoasis · 5 years

Text

Toilets, bowties, gender and me | Audrey Mason-Hyde | TEDxAdelaide

New Post has been published on https://hititem.kr/toilets-bowties-gender-and-me-audrey-mason-hyde-tedxadelaide/

Toilets, bowties, gender and me | Audrey Mason-Hyde | TEDxAdelaide

Translator: Mara Guadalupe Niklison Reviewer: Peter van de Ven i wonder what you first suppose whilst you see me. Maybe it can be something about my curls – individuals normally point out them. Or "What a dapper little man." In my expertise, one of the crucial first things humans do is count on i am a boy or are not certain whether i am a lady or a boy. We do that to all people. We count on what gender someone is, established on how they seem, and if we can’t inform, we get stressed.I say "we" seeing that I do it too. It’s ingrained. Our first choice and often unconscious. But why? Well, i’m Audrey, and if we’re talking biology, i’m feminine. But I consider it is more elaborate than that. For an entry point, let’s seem at my type. As you could most commonly see, i’ve a specified sort, however I wasn’t born wearing fits, bow ties, and flamingo socks. My type needed to evolve, and it is going to keep evolving, and i suppose it gives some insight into my changing expertise of gender. This is a photo of me before I began college, sporting a star Wars prime, a skirt, and sneakers, demonstrating to the sector that i’m a woman! It is the skirt, right? Everyone knows that signal.So at this age, I used to be just a girl who did not care much about what I wore. It was once practical and various. This all took another turn when I hit the age of 5 and began university. I don’t forget certainly one of my first days at college, and that i was within the girls’ bathroom when two women I knew came close me and mentioned, "appear, there may be a boy in here." I appeared over my shoulder, however there was no person there. So I asked them, "where?" i noticed they intended me. I was fairly bowled over, as i would simplest been around folks who knew and understood me. I felt upset and alienated. Ultimately, this misrecognition started going down in public toilets as good, with adults assuming my gender. Normally, i’d get matters like "Why are you in here?" or "incorrect bathroom." This finally result in me being hesitant and tentative about even going to the bathroom in public. Most likely, people failed to simply say something in any respect. They simply stared at me. This felt, and feels, worse. At tuition, this happened increasingly regularly, however whilst many people in that situation could have began dressing more regularly female, in dresses, with long hair, or bows, I grew to become increasingly masculine imparting, sporting what we keep in mind to be boys’ clothes considering in them I felt most authentically myself.I used to be lovely adamant about just wearing male things. What that intended to me was no pink, and even purple, or any type of costume, skirt, and even glitter and frills. I did not think of myself as a boy, however some thing that was recognized as female felt uncomfortable to me. I adopted the label of "tomboy," which intended a lady who wore boy clothes and played with boys’ toys. To me, this kept away from conflict. Tomboys are long-established, proper? They’re even considered a stage – as though we’ll grow out of it. My father and mother under no circumstances fought my insistence on avoiding clothes. They allowed me to select what I wore when you consider that they believed it had no concerning who I was once.I began sporting shirts and bow ties to any slightly formal occasion. This is a image of me at six sporting a bow tie I produced from paper when you consider that Dad was wearing his material one. As for my expertise in bathrooms, i attempted to avert the predicament by waiting until men and women left earlier than I went in on account that otherwise, i might consider trapped. Until concerning the age of 9, when any individual mistook me for a boy, i would reply comfortably that i’m a woman.But finally, it stopped feeling proper; as an alternative of gaining self assurance the extra it happened, I lost it. "woman" did not suppose correct, however "boy" did not believe right either. So, what did i need? I am now not definite I particularly knew at the time. My buddies started getting more and more into sporting activities, but I was in no way sporty, I was once a bookworm. If I have been a boy, individuals would most often have stated I was a touchy one. They do not have a tendency to use that time period as much for women, given that it’s what’s anticipated. So I began placing out with a gaggle of women. This did not really alter my type, more my perspective to the word "tomboy," which I grew to dislike.I started to realise I could nonetheless be a girl and put on mostly male matters. In my intellect, I was nonetheless a girl for the reason that I didn’t suppose like a boy. At the age of eight, I traveled with my parents and the cast of our movie, "fifty two Tuesdays," to the Berlin international movie pageant. "fifty two Tuesdays" was once partly a few mom transitioning from female to male. I photograph a few of you are thinking, "Oh, no! Audrey simply bought this gender confusion from her moms and dads movie making." however this gender questioning happened before they started considering the fact that it, and they say I’ve taught them as much about this as they’ve taught me. Anyway, in Berlin, I met Bart. Bart wore drapy black substances, excessive heeled boots, nail polish, and eyeliner, but he wasn’t dressed as a girl. This demonstrated to me that I could be flamboyant and androgynous with my style, that my love of bow ties didn’t need to exclude something probably female. That year, when the movie gained the Crystal undergo youth Jury Award, I took to the read carpet in eyeliner and nail polish. This is a photo of me that night time. Observe the bow tie.I started to suppose of gender as anything more dynamic. Gender used to be now not your genitals or even what you wore or acted like, and possibly it wasn’t constant. I will take a 2d to pose a query to you. Why does it subject to you whether i am a boy or a woman? And in the event you suppose it would not, i’ll really ask you to stop and consider. Have you ever ever come across any person whose gender you simply cannot position? Have you ever desired to know, although you do not care both approach, have you ever desired to understand what they’re? For these of you who say, "No, i’m totally cozy not knowing, i don’t use ‘he’ or ‘she’ when speakme about them, I simply treat them as a human without any gender identifiers." well, that’s impressive. It can be difficult to do. Simply try to speak about any one for a minute with out making use of gender terms. It is rather complex. That is Audrey. Audrey is a … … Young person who doesn’t establish as any gender.Audrey writes reports they usually love writing. Audrey loves writing – now not the experiences love writing. Oops. It can be rough for everybody. We wish to understand considering of our language and, also, in my experience, it can be for the reason that we treat guys and boys otherwise to women and ladies. And we wish to know methods to treat them. Routinely i am pleased that men and women mistake me for a boy considering that I get to have actual conversations with humans.They inquire from me about my future, and we speak about about what I want to do. More commonly, once they find out i’m no longer a boy, they do not know tips on how to treat me. My friends, who exhibit extra outward signs of being ladies, traditionally get referred to as matters like "sweetheart," or "darling," or "love." folks comment on how pretty they’re. Recently, when I traveled overseas, i noticed a pattern of gender neutral or all-gender public lavatories, which makes me consider so relieved. Having that choice makes me love going to the lavatory in public, and i love i do not ought to tell any individual what genitalia I own.Here’s a picture of me in my sparkle pants, as I call them. They really added flare to my type, they usually also particularly confuse some humans about whether i am a boy, and even, almost certainly, make them uncomfortable when you consider that I seem like an awfully flamboyant, or even girly, boy. Though i do not feel this is invariably easy, i’m so completely satisfied with the choices I made once I used to be younger to wear what made me think good and that I felt expressed me considering the fact that I suppose i would be a a lot unhappier kid or else. I nonetheless get referred to as a boy in public instances, however, in phrases of bathrooms, i attempt to go to the all-gender or unisex ones, or, if I are not able to, i’m going to the disabled bathrooms. Even though I do still use the girls’ bogs in tuition and repeatedly in public. Utilising the women’ bogs, I certainly not suppose excellent, and that i still generally tend to go with someone else. Although i’m no longer labeled as a special gender after I go to the disabled bathrooms, i do not feel best still, considering that it simply jogs my memory that there are more commonly no toilets for humans like me, who don’t establish inside the gender binary, and that toilets are simply a different means we categorize folks.My kind has advanced significantly for the reason that the big name Wars t-shirts and skirts of my early childhood, and that i consider it has rather a lot to assert about how I now recognize and bear in mind gender. I’ve realized that, for me, gender is a spectrum. What my gender expression and identification is, is absolutely about me and no longer about how other individuals perceive me. I do not know how we take care of that in a global so determined to define by gender. I’m going to leave you with that identical question. Why does it topic to you whether i’m a boy or a woman? Or that i am in the improper toilet? Does it relatively matter to you which rest room i exploit? When you consider that it does subject to me. Would it harm you to not recognize someone’s gender? Considering that despite how uncomfortable it could make you suppose, you assuming my gender makes me think uncomfortable day-to-day. All i’m asking is for you to simply sit down with that little little bit of uncomfortable to make any individual else consider better. Due to the fact that it does topic to me.It matters to me when I stroll with my pals and also you say, "hi there, ladies!" but I don’t need you to make amends, i do not hold my grudges, but everytime you say that it smudges my completely happy ideas into undefinable phrases. It concerns to me when you say i’m a handsome lad in view that while you may be complimenting, it makes me question my inner imaginative and prescient of myself. So, strangers, sit down uncomfortably while I inform you how my gender tiers from daily, commonly neutral, oftentimes fluid, usually gentle, sometimes fierce.It doesn’t make me a boy, however it does not imply that i am realigning, and i don’t need to be redefining what it manner to be a girl. Due to the fact that i am no longer a lady. So it does topic to me. (Applause) .

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batterymonster2021 · 5 years

Text

Toilets, bowties, gender and me | Audrey Mason-Hyde | TEDxAdelaide

New Post has been published on https://hititem.kr/toilets-bowties-gender-and-me-audrey-mason-hyde-tedxadelaide/

Toilets, bowties, gender and me | Audrey Mason-Hyde | TEDxAdelaide

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yes-dal456 · 7 years

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Leaning Into Yourself: Abandoning Fear And Embracing Yourself

“We’re all just walking each other home.” ― Ram Dass

We went around the room, one by one answering the question proposed by our graduate school professor in the counseling psychology program I’d recently been accepted into: “Once you complete your master’s and doctoral degrees, what do you intend to do?”

Perpetually anxious, I hyperventilated as each member of my cohort detailed their future research plans, careers in academia, and other equally intimidating (and boring, in my opinion) pursuits.

“Angie, what about you?” Dr. Wesley asked sincerely, his head slightly tilted while he awaited the response of yet another ambitious scholar.

“Um, the truth is this is my backup plan.” Oh, God! Holy shit. Did I really just say that? “I mean, I’d like to become a therapist one day, but my real calling is to be a mother.”

Two seconds and twelve hundred heart palpitations later, he moved on awkwardly to the more sophisticated classmate to the right of me who whispered in my ear, “That was awesome!”

Graduate school was a series of humiliating moments, much like this one. Thankfully, despite my profound lack of interest in things like multivariate statistics, research methods, and cognitive neuroscience, I fell in love with courses like approaches to psychotherapy and psychopathology, group dynamics, and how we develop and form attachments. In the midst of classes, papers, and presentations, I also made deeply personal and meaningful relationships with my peers, which come to find out is an essential component for healing others.

During graduate school, I got engaged, married, and had my first baby, in quick succession. While my peers wrote their dissertations, I wrote thank-you cards for wedding and baby showers. As they accepted internships, I accepted—for the first time since childhood—my body and its majestic ability to heal itself and expand to meet the needs of a growing baby. I rooted myself in therapeutic techniques and theories, yet more importantly, I found I was most grounded by my inherent gift to nurture and nourish my baby.

I skipped graduation to attend a trip for my grandparent’s 50th wedding anniversary. Knowing I accomplished the goal meant more than celebrating it publicly, for this accomplishment was much bigger than most people realized. Applying and getting accepted into graduate school was my first giant leap toward recovery.

Despite my insecurity about not being smart enough to get into graduate school, my fear of starting something new and then quitting it when it got overwhelming, all the while hiding out in my illness feeling like a complete fraud as I once had, proved to be an outdated narrative. I flipped the script. I rewrote the story. I discovered I was far more capable than I ever gave myself credit for.

I recovered myself in graduate school. I recovered from an eating disorder, and I recovered to my future passion for helping others heal. There was no hospital or outpatient treatment team (although that would have been ideal). There was the enormity, and often illusory outline, of a dream of living a life beyond the fragmented abyss of an eating disorder. Even when I felt unworthy, I walked towards it. Even when I felt discouraged and defeated, I took another step. I showed up, over and over, for myself. But let me be the first to say, I was a hot mess. I was all over the place and nowhere. I was oozing out and hollow. Uncomfortable and convinced I had to keep going. It wasn’t graceful or glamorous, it was mostly gut-wrenching until it wasn’t anymore. It certainly was not perfect, but somewhere inside I knew I was reclaiming my one true self.

Something shifted later that year, however. The wedding gifts and the framed degree went unnoticed as the incessant demands of mothering ensued. My gratitude for my body’s ability to heal from an eating disorder, to grow a precious little soul, and capacity to deliver that soul into the world became overshadowed with loneliness.

Day after day my husband would leave and go out into the world where there were people, actual people that he talked to, and much to my irritation, would sometimes even have the audacity to go out to eat with them. What?

I was increasingly aware, as I meandered through Target, that this whole motherhood thing was terribly misleading. As I sat in circles with other mom’s during “Books and Babies” at the library, I heard a voice, a loud, demanding voice that said, “Get the hell out of here!” But where would I go? “Books and Babies” felt like my one shot at connecting with other moms. Other women that maybe, just like me, were feeling like something critical was missing.

I couldn’t figure out why my whole life I had prepared for this thing that I knew without question I was called to do was equal parts misery and magical. My deepest felt sense at the time was that something was wrong with me. Why can’t I just be content with staying at home with my baby? I felt guilty, like some invisible force field of mother’s were frowning down on me, looking at each other with disgust, “Of course, it’s still not enough for her.”

As my son, Beckett, approached eighteen months I sought out and accepted my first position as a therapist at the local mental health center. I shopped daycares like my life depended on it, and in some ways it did. I needed the comfort of knowing my sweet baby would be well cared for while I went to work.

The first several weeks of dropping him off were horrific. His little body clung to me like a rabid animal desperate and afraid. I walked out into the parking lot sobbing, as other mothers hoisted themselves into their SUV’s and reapplied lipstick. I had morbid images of extracting this agony (wherever it lived in my body) and tucking it under their back tires to end the suffering.

When I was at work, I longed to be with Beckett, but when I was at home I couldn’t wait to go back to work where I could put my clinical skills to use. But no matter if I was at work or home, I believed I was failing somehow. I needed help.

My sturdy, reliable eating disorder, my method for managing such complicated feelings, was well into remission. As though handcuffed to the steering wheel I was committed not to turn back to the now rusty behaviors, eager and anxious for me to employ them. I just couldn’t. I knew in my heart, finally, that I simply was unwilling to return to a life dictated and tethered to an eating disorder. There’s got to be another way out.

Pregnancy was the ultimate invitation to heal my body. Motherhood, however, unfolded a rich tapestry woven with opportunities to heal my past and reconnect with my soul.

Fourteen years recovered, three children in my nest, and a million hours clocked in as a therapist later, I’ve reconsidered and reshaped my beliefs about what it means to be called to a profession or a role. Each whisper from our soul is beckoning us to expand, to doubt and underestimate ourselves mercilessly so that we can then more fiercely stand by our own side empowered and emboldened with the knowing that we once again exceeded our limiting beliefs and stepped into the fullest version of ourselves.

So with graduation and Mother’s Day upon us, I’m giving you one hell of an oversimplified recipe for recovery:

Walk daily towards one of your soul’s callings.

Watch as each step you take towards your passion you shed another thin layer of your old unhealthy ways.

Marvel at how messy and majestic you are as you make your way.

Lovingly acknowledge each detour and setback as the next lesson to remind you of how strong and steadfast you are despite the distractions and discouragement.

Advocate for yourself like you would for a child.

Allow your symptoms to guide you home.

*I’d love to inspire you to take the next step on your path to recovered and send you my free weekly Recovery Tip videos. Please visit my website to sign up.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

from http://ift.tt/2qp66wN from Blogger http://ift.tt/2rk815S

#http://www.happiness2arab.tk/2017/05/leaning-into-yourself-abandoning-fear.html

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imreviewblog · 7 years

Text

Leaning Into Yourself: Abandoning Fear And Embracing Yourself

“We’re all just walking each other home.” ― Ram Dass

Perpetually anxious, I hyperventilated as each member of my cohort detailed their future research plans, careers in academia, and other equally intimidating (and boring, in my opinion) pursuits.

“Angie, what about you?” Dr. Wesley asked sincerely, his head slightly tilted while he awaited the response of yet another ambitious scholar.

“Um, the truth is this is my backup plan.” Oh, God! Holy shit. Did I really just say that? “I mean, I’d like to become a therapist one day, but my real calling is to be a mother.”

Two seconds and twelve hundred heart palpitations later, he moved on awkwardly to the more sophisticated classmate to the right of me who whispered in my ear, “That was awesome!”

Pregnancy was the ultimate invitation to heal my body. Motherhood, however, unfolded a rich tapestry woven with opportunities to heal my past and reconnect with my soul.

So with graduation and Mother’s Day upon us, I’m giving you one hell of an oversimplified recipe for recovery:

Walk daily towards one of your soul’s callings.

Watch as each step you take towards your passion you shed another thin layer of your old unhealthy ways.

Marvel at how messy and majestic you are as you make your way.

Lovingly acknowledge each detour and setback as the next lesson to remind you of how strong and steadfast you are despite the distractions and discouragement.

Advocate for yourself like you would for a child.

Allow your symptoms to guide you home.

*I’d love to inspire you to take the next step on your path to recovered and send you my free weekly Recovery Tip videos. Please visit my website to sign up.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

from Healthy Living - The Huffington Post http://bit.ly/2qkUuwL

#Healthy Living - The Huffington Post

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