Let me just give you a little background about myself and how I got to be the person I am today.
I was born in England and moved here to the U.S. when I was 11 years old. I am an only child and was always very shy. I had issues with my weight which, to this day, I struggle with. I’m always trying to live a healthier eating life style. I had my oldest son when I was 21 and was a single mother for ten years, until I met my husband at work. From that first date I knew he was the one. Six months later we were engaged and got married. We started a family right away. Twelve years later we have two other boys and our chihuahua named Chloe.
Going back to when I was in my twenties, I started to have episodes of depression. I thought this was normal because I hadn't found "Mr. Right" and craved to start a family with that special man that I did not have when I was growing up. At thirty I was married and had just had our first son when my depression started to get worse. I thought I had post postpartum blues, which I probably did, but it just would never go away. By the time our second son was born three years later, my depression got to the point that, when I was not working during the week, I was in bed almost all day. It was that ugly secret that I kept between myself and family. I was always so hard on myself - thinking I was bad wife and mother. Even though my husband did what he could to try and draw me out of my darkness, nothing helped. Four years ago is when it all changed. I was diagnosed with a medical condition that could have major effects on my brain. During those six months of MRIs and waiting to see if things would get better or worse, I started to seriously look at where I was in life. I asked myself the question that changed it all.
“If I only have a limited time to live, am I happy with everything I have accomplished in my life?”
I immediately knew what the answer was. From that point is when I started what I called my Awakening. I decided to stop looking back to the past - at all of my faults, the things I had done to others and what others had done to me - and just started to look ahead. I began making the changes that I needed to make me happy and also found great doctors to help me. I knew that I needed to learn to love myself first to truly feel happy. Then I could bring that happiness to my family. Don't get me wrong. My clinical depression will always be there; but I have learned through the years how to overcome getting to those very low dark places like I had before. I hope to share some of my methods with you through this blog as time goes on. Through the last four years I have reintroduced all the passions that I had left behind so many years before. I also learned how to use mindfulness to help me be more grateful, appreciative and simply happy. To some the phrase "being happy" may come easily but it used to be painfully hard for me.
Now that I am in a great place personally with myself, I have helped create a more positive family life and pursued so many dreams that I never thought I could accomplish before. I have a full time career in a field that I love. In addition to that I am an entrepreneur with a Traveling Tea Party company and also host creative events. I have mentored at-risk teens and am always looking for ways to give back to the community by conducting workshops about promoting positive self-image. I'm so thrilled with where I am now, but am so excited to see what else is to come. I hope you continue to follow my blog as I write more specifically about how I live creatively happy as a wife, mother, career woman and entrepreneur.
D. Blooming
