Finding Beauty in the Wild

   Our oldest daughter turned 10 last month and we surprised her with tickets to the Taylor Swift concert for her birthday! I'd be lying if I said I wasn't just as excited! I really like Taylor Swift.     Having written songs for my kids and poetry and such it takes a lot of courage to throw out all your emotions for the world to hear.     Taylor is growing up though. You can definitely tell she is maturing in certain areas. Yet she was still pretty modest in comparison to other pop stars. She even at one point made sure her shirt was tucked in.     But back to Ava. Her eyes were gleaming with delight to see costumes and take pictures with posters. All in all I just loved experiencing the joy that was spilling out of her! We got there a little early so we could find our seats and look around.    She was so cute! Since we were at The Cowboys Stadium, Ava said Taylor should have marked through the "BLUE" with "RED" because it was her ...

My childhood was good but it also contained abandonment, sexual abuse, insecurity, rejection, fear and shame. "Why did they leave me here?" "Don't tell or I'll hurt your parents." "You can't pronounce that word, you're an idiot." "You shouldn't wear sleeveless shirts, it isn't flattering on you." "Are you sure you really want to do that? That doesn't seem like you." "If people really knew this about you, they would not like you." "Is she ok, she doesn't smile." I was a scared girl, people I trusted hurt me. I was on guard, constantly. I became quiet. I didn't know how to react to things. If I cried I was too sensitive. If I was insensitive I was a cold wench. If I snorted when I laughed I was obnoxious. If I wanted to try a new style I couldn't pull it off. I just started being a chameleon, being whomever "they" thought I was supposed to be. I just wanted to...