Xuebing Du
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Andulka
izzy's playlists!
Love Begins
PUT YOUR BEARD IN MY MOUTH
Noah Kahan
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Cosmic Funnies
Keni
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Lint Roller? I Barely Know Her
hello vonnie
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bliss lane
Aqua Utopia｜海の底で記憶を紡ぐ
Origami Around
pixel skylines
Not today Justin
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@oliviacastetter
Foster Care for a Better Tomorrow
Foster Care for a Better Tomorrow
On Tuesday afternoon, my phone went off with a news alert about something that had happened in Louisville, Kentucky. I live in southern Indiana, directly across from Louisville, and it’s a city that profoundly breaks my heart every day. It’s a city steeped in history—much of it rife with discrimination, racism, poverty, and violence of all kinds. Louisville is also a major corridor for human…
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When I Tell You My Story
When I Tell You My Story
Over the past couple of years, I’ve been working to heal to a point where I’m comfortable sharing my story. Writing my first memoir helped that tremendously; now that my story has been written and subsequently read by complete strangers, it’s gotten easier, somehow, to verbally share my story in face-to-face interactions. While I don’t go into detail about my story, it’s gotten easier to say that…
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Voicing My Story
In January of this year, I released my first memoir, Me, Too: Voicing My Story. As the title indicates, the book is my #metoo statement, though it’s also a sociological examination of how our society has evolved to a place where sexual violence is so rampant. In my book, I address how purity culture shaped me, and how the things I learned in church contradicted the things I was told by trusted…
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Might Be Different, Yet Definitely Human
Might Be Different, Yet Definitely Human
Over the past several months, I’ve noticed a significant amount of anti-Italian humor on Twitter. Perhaps it’s the algorithms, and I’m seeing more of it because I’ve posted a bit more lately about being an Italian-American, or maybe there is a surge for some reason I’ve yet to discover. Whatever the reason, the reality remains: there shouldn’t be anti-Italian humor anywhere. My grandfather was…
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My Trauma Type, Part One
My Trauma Type, Part One
I’ve been reading Complex PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving by Pete Walker, and yesterday, I read chapter six, “What is My Trauma Type?” As I was reading, I realized I’ve had different responses to different traumas, which completely blew my mind. For years, I’ve struggled identifying my “trauma type,” primarily because I believed an individual either responded one way or another. Since writing my…
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Land of the Free?
Land of the Free?
Every summer, it happens. The cookout gear goes on sale. SUVs laden with camping equipment and boats speed down the interstate. Tri-color attire appears en masse as matching flags are raised on porches. All of these things happen in a celebration for the day American colonies declared their independence from King George III’s tyranny. Yet it seems to me that we’ve traded the tyranny of a foreign…
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Look, I get it. Medical professionals are overworked right now. That is NO excuse to grumpily respond to a nervous child about a stranger touching her body. Teach consent. Respect boundaries, and clearly communicate. Children are humans, too. ... #pediatrician #pediatrics #healthcare #consent #teachconsent #teachingconsent #consentculture #communication https://www.instagram.com/p/Cc07pUbP6sO/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=
"Life is brutiful."
“Life is brutiful.”
Last Monday, I started reading Untamed by Glennon Doyle. Again. I read it last year when I was in a prolonged triggered-state by the investigation into my former teacher’s sexual misconduct—a gift from my bestie. I started reading it again last week because it was the only thing that made sense to me. And after finishing it this morning, I understand why I was so drawn to it. Something happened…
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Teething toddler = lots of reading while cuddling. 😅 This week's book, Becoming Queen Victoria by @katewilliamsme , was a wonderful way to pass the time. I originally became interested in the history of the British monarchy when I was pregnant with my son (now 4.5), and I've spent the last five years reading as much as I could about the Plantagents, Tudors, and Stuarts. I wanted to jump ahead a bit, though, and read about Queen Victoria ahead of starting my next book series, which will be about the women of the Victorian Period in America, ones we'd call "feminists" by today's standards. More on that later. 😉 But back to Becoming Queen Victoria. I loved it, especially the way the author began by teaching the reader about Princess Charlotte, whose early demise forever changed the course of the monarchy. I'd never even heard of Princess Charlotte, and now I'm eager to find a book all about her, too. Her short life reminds me a bit of Lady Jane Grey's, in the sense that both women's lives were so profoundly impacted by the powerful men around them, and that if they'd lived and reigned, the world may look quite different today. Kate Williams has always been one of my favorite historians to watch in a documentary, and I'm excited to add her work to my list of favorite historical authors. Every page of Becoming Queen Victoria came to life before my eyes, painting a vivid picture of a word not so long ago yet so different from ours today. Thank you for all your hard work and dedication to bring this book - and these figures - to life. 💙 ... #momlife #motherhood #nonfictionreads #nonfictionbooks #queenvictoria #victorian #nonfiction #history #queencharlotte https://www.instagram.com/p/CWeKDRNvsER/?utm_medium=tumblr
I've hesitated to post this picture from November 1. Partially because it's poorly composed (I wasn't thinking about angles or lighting, just what I was about to do) and also because it doesn't show the beauty of my flowerbeds - it shows this bed in a state of unruly disarray. Which honestly matches how I was feeling when I took it. On November 1, I decided to put what happened to me in 2012-2013 on an official document. I made a police report about the man who abused me for months. I had an interview scheduled to make the report, but in the hours before, I was restless. Although I've come to terms with what happened against my will years ago, the unknown factor of what would happen after I made the report had me twisted up inside....as though I hadn't been all twisty for years before already. So I channeled that energy into doing something I'd been putting off, my mental health the only barrier - preparing my flowerbeds for winter. It's my least favorite chore of the year because the final hopes for additional blooms have often not come to fruition, and I know it'll be months before I see those gorgeous flowers again. I know it's for their restoration during the cold months, but I still loathe it. When I finished and went to the police station then arrived home, though, it felt like the flowerbeds were telling me, "Now it's your turn." I went inside, ate my weight in sushi, and slept the most soundly I have in years. These flowerbeds mean so much to me, most of all that they're the first thing I see when I come home to a house that's truly safe and welcoming. And now they mean even more, because I can see myself reflected beautifully in them for next season. I've realized I hated preparing the beds for winter because I didn't know how to rest - I needed help to do that, just like the flowers. What started as messy and chaotic, in need of lots of TLC, can now rest for the winter and come back gloriously in the spring. Me too, flowers. Me too. ... #pollinatorgarden #winter #autumn #flowers #flowerbed #metoo #survivorsspeak #survivorsofinstagram #rest #tlc #gardening #midwest #cptsd #cptsdrecovery #anxiety #anxietyawareness #traumasurvivor https://www.instagram.com/p/CWN7z2WrghX/?utm_medium=tumblr
I've mentioned it before, and here is the official announcement: my debut work of nonfiction will be released in early 2022. It is book one of my Too Much memoir collection. Writing this book has been a painful, comforting, wounding, healing journey. It's one I didn't plan to take quite yet, and I am also so grateful I did. This journey began in late 2019 when I was editing Finding Annie by Katherine Turner. We became friends, and she recommended I read Beads: A Memoir about Falling Apart and Putting Yourself Back Together Again by Rachael Brooks. As much as Finding Annie prodded wounds I was trying to ignore, Beads comforted me and taught me that those wounds could heal...it just might be a little messy along the way. And I wouldn't trade the mess and tidying-in-progress for anything. Thank you, @kturnerwrites for helping me step onto this journey and @rbrookswriter for guiding my path, even years before we first spoke. And thank you to @the_envirominimalist_dad , @palindrome3033 , @fruitsjt , and Alex for walking alongside me - not just this year as I wrote, but also for the last decade or so as I survived. I love you all. ... #nonfiction #memoir #authorsofinstagram #survivorsspeak #survivorsofinstagram #lifeaftertrauma #metoo #metoomovement #MeTooVoicingMyStory #OliviaCastetter #OliviaTalksAboutConsent #MeTooOliviaCastetter https://www.instagram.com/p/CUxhvyara6w/?utm_medium=tumblr
Whenever I read nonfiction, I have to keep a stack of flags nearby. I always find passages that I want to blog about, or quotes I want to remember, or articles for further reading I want to find online. Reading Missoula by Jon Krakauer was no different. I started this book August 8 and finished it two days later—it was suggested material for professional development for End of the Innocence (the nonprofit for which I serve on the board; @endoftheinnocence_org). This book covered several cases with which I was unfamiliar, yet the survivors’ stories were all too familiar to my own. Missoula details the legal proceedings surrounding several mishandled rape cases in Missoula, Montana in 2010-2012. In these cases, the perpetrator was a different football player (or multiple football players) at the University of Montana, and the victims ranged from their friends to barely acquaintances. Every case failed to carry justice for the survivor for reasons including a claim of insufficient evidence or a failure to prove the accused’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, as well as prosecutorial failure to file charges, despite overwhelming evidence. As I read the survivors’ stories and perpetrators’ excuses, I felt myself experiencing a range of emotions and mild triggers. Krakauer details the assaults and the survivors’ healing vividly, which creates for a page-turning read. Read more on #DontAskLiv on WordPress now! dontaskliv.com ... #survivorsspeak #survivorsofinstagram #survivorsofsexualabuse #metoo #metoomovement #bookreview #missoula #missoulamontana #jonkrakauer https://www.instagram.com/p/CTzieAXLgde/?utm_medium=tumblr
Recommended Reading: Missoula by Jon Krakauer
Recommended Reading: Missoula by Jon Krakauer
Whenever I read nonfiction, I have to keep a stack of flags nearby. I always find passages that I want to blog about, or quotes I want to remember, or articles for further reading I want to find online. Reading Missoula by Jon Krakauer was no different. I started this book August 8 and finished it two days later—it was suggested material for professional development for End of the Innocence (the…
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Women's Rights are Human Rights
Women’s Rights are Human Rights
As I mentioned in a previous post, I’ve spent part of the pandemic taking classes online through Coursera. One of those courses is from Stanford University, taught by Anne Firth Murray. The class explores Women’s Health and Human Rights around the world, and one of our first assignments was to read the 1995 Beijing Declaration, which emerged from the Fourth United Nations Conference on…
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One of the things I cherish most about my childhood is the weekly habit my mom and I had of going to Target, usually on Saturday mornings. We'd each get a fountain Coke and a pretzel, and even if all we bought was her weekly People Magazine, it was always a wonderful hour we spent together...and it's become something I try to do with my daughter as often as possible. As she gets older, it happens more often. When we were there Tuesday night this week, I saw this book. I read the first page and considered buying it, but ultimately put it back on the shelf, deciding not to spend the money - I wasn't sure it was the right expenditure of funds. But I haven't been able to stop thinking about that first page for the last two days. So I decided to dash up there tonight after making some hard decisions yesterday and today. I'm at a crossroads in my career. As close as I am to having the moon in my backyard (as my amazing friend @fruitsjt always encouraged me to do), I'm realizing there may be pieces I have to downsize. And part of why I'm downsizing is because, for the first time, I know my worth. (Thanks, @desertroze69 for reminding me!) I want this trend to continue. I want all the love that Jason and Nick have poured into me, their years of effort encouraging me to achieve my dreams, to mean something. And to do that, I need a little help stopping the burnout cycle I so often find myself in. Partially due to trauma, yes, but our culture is undoubtedly a contributing factor. So, stay tuned - I expect I'll tear through this one quickly! ... #ThePensiveBookworm #DontAskLiv #bookblogger #bookstagram #bookbloggersofinstagram #stress #burnout #keeptalkingmentalhealth #traumarecovery #work https://www.instagram.com/p/CTV2wn7rxB4/?utm_medium=tumblr
Book Review: resilient by Katherine Turner
Book Review: resilient by Katherine Turner
Have you ever started a book and been completely captivated from the very first page? Or even the first line? Have you ever started reading, and suddenly, you’ve read more than half the book in one sitting? I know it’s probably happened to many people from my generation. We grew up with the Harry Potter series and Twilight—I can scarcely remember a day in middle or high school that one of those…
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Recommended Reading: resilient by Katherine Turner
Recommended Reading: resilient by Katherine Turner
Have you ever started a book and been completely captivated from the very first page? Or even the first line? Have you ever started reading, and suddenly, you’ve read more than half the book in one sitting? I know it’s probably happened to many people from my generation. We grew up with the Harry Potter series and Twilight—I can scarcely remember a day in middle or high school that one of those…
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