Taking back my social life after the pandemic Today I attended the Memorial Day Service for my hometown, Atlanta, Illinois. It’s a small town of about 1,600 people. They’re gaining a following as it’s right on Route 66. The flags lined up the streets with each veteran's name stitched upon…

Symptoms and ways to help them cope — In today’s modern age of technology, where we have cameras to watch our pets while we’re away, we can see our dogs having separation anxiety through a screen. All dogs have a different way of expressing their anxiety. From barking to pacing to defecating on the floor to tearing the…

what led me there and how I got out — When I was about 12 years old, I started getting depressed. I was an adolescent obsessed with the thought of death. It started with losing one of my best friends to suicide. He was depressed too. …

How some people experience it and ways to help them Do you have an anxious feeling when you’re out in public? Do you feel like everyone’s staring at you when you’re at the grocery store? These are things people with social anxiety deal with every day. After dealing with the…

Have you seen my keys? — How many people do you know that have ferrets? Can you count them on one hand? Unless you’re in the ferret community yourself, you likely don’t know that many ferret owners. We’re not as weird as some people think we are, I promise. :) Ferrets are considered exotic animals to…

and never looked back. “During the 2007–2009 recession, fewer young adults were establishing their own households and more of them were moving back with parents after initially moving out.” Apparently, during a time where more young adults were moving back into their parents’ houses, my husband (boyfriend at that time)…

Is it really a thing, or is it just me? “One study of sibling jealousy during middle childhood and adolescence, for example, found that approximately 98% of youth reported experiencing sibling jealousy at least once” (Thompson & Halberstadt, 2008). My sister and I are 10 years apart. It’s always been…

Reasons why I come back to it again and again — While there are all kinds of shows to watch on TV that you can get lost in, there is one show I keep coming back to. It’s on my TV when I go to sleep at night. It’s on again when I wake and while my dog is home alone…

Personal views on being a writer — Writing is good for the soul. It’s a way for us to express ourselves and our thoughts through words. Reading helps you to build your vocabulary so you can write more efficiently. Reading other’s writing also helps you focus on your own writing. What are you doing differently? …