#Blogtober17: “All About You”

I have never taken part in a blog challenge before and I am not quite sure why I am driven toward the Blogtober17 challenge by Mandi Morrison (@hexmumblog). Maybe it is because the writing prompts are pretty straight forward and open-ended enough to be appealing. Before I jump into today’s challenge (“All About You’), I would like to note I found out about this challenge only yesterday. As a result, I have not had the opportunity to prepare ahead of time. Alright folks, here goes…

Speaking about myself tends to feel a bit awkward. I have written a few posts for others, including Brigitte White, D.D.S. on work/life balance and Speak Away The Stigma when I wrote about my commitment to mental health advocacy. The most personal information I have revealed about myself to date was for an episode on Growing Up Haitian for the VagEsteem podcast where I talked about what messages I received from my parents and family members growing up in a Haitian household.

So what else should I share about me? Well, since I was a young child I knew I wanted to be a mom. And work full time. I knew where I wanted to go to school (Princeton University–go tigers!!) and my entire childhood revolved around doing whatever necessary to achieve that goal. I took all of the “right” classes and participated in all of the “right” extracurricular activities to help get me there. I didn’t mind school–as a matter of fact I loved school. Even my most difficult classes I saw as a necessary stepping stone toward Princeton and ultimately embraced them for what they were. The effort paid off. I achieved my goal of getting accepting and graduating from Princeton.

Fast forward about 10 years. I found myself a mom (of two boys), wife, and psychologist. Somewhere along the way I lost my way a little bit. I lost sight of my goals and lost the sense of where my life was headed. Each day seemed like the same routine and I felt like I was not doing anything in my life as effectively as I had in my childhood and teenage years. Specifically, I worried about how I would juggle family and professional life if I really pursued my career goals. After visiting with a close friend earlier this year I realized I needed to stop being afraid to step into all of my roles. At that point I decided to pursue my career more aggressively. And I am so thankful I did. I feel a greater sense of purpose and contribution to the mental health field and I have achieved this in a way that has allowed me to better balance all aspects of my life.

Behind the scenes at Good Morning Washington
Me before my second appearance on Good Morning Washington on August 30, 2017

There you have it. A little bit more information on who I am.

You should probably also know I love the New York Giants, Knicks, and Yankees. I get pretty worked up when I watch these teams play. Especially if they are losing. But rarely do I get to watch sports any more.

To learn even more about me, watch the video below on my Top Ten Pet Peeves people say about mental illness. (And feel free to subscribe to my YouTube channel to stay up-to-date on my future posts!!)

Check out the challenges for the rest of the month on Mandi Morrison’s website.

#Blogtober17

 

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