It's been nearly two years since I've posted in the "Coping With a Diagnosis" section of IBSTakesGuts. But as every single one of you knows, a lot has happened to all of us since February 2020 - so it's time for IBSTakesGuts to officially address the bully in the room who just won't go away: …
Available for Purchase: Findin’ Sunshine
Hi, readers! I announced a few days ago that I've written a book called Findin' Sunshine. Hopefully you checked out that post, but you can read it here if you missed it. Today's post is short and sweet because we're going straight into the big news: if you are interested in purchasing a copy of …
I’ve Got Some News, Y’all: Findin’ Sunshine
Hi, friends! The last time you heard from me in conjunction with the "Coping with a Diagnosis" section of IBSTakesGuts, I shared my final thoughts on the coping process (click here to read the post if you missed it). I mentioned in this post that, unless something major changed, you wouldn't see any new posts …
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My Full Circle: The Thoughts I Want to Share at the End of “Coping”
I'm in this weird place where I feel like the "Coping with a Diagnosis" portion of my blog is coming to a close, but I don't fully know what to say just yet. I've been grappling with it for several weeks now, and yet the words have been so elusive to me. I know why …
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Finding Your Purpose, Living Your Ministry
Yesterday, I listened to a couple sermons on using what's in your life to minister. The speaker spent the last 22 years of his life working in Africa as a missionary, but not in the typical sense. This gentleman discussed the people on his team throughout the years and the purposes they served. For example: …
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The “But Then,” Part
I couldn't get to sleep for a little while last night. I was mulling over a conversation I'd had earlier in the evening with a gentleman who's made a few short but meaningful appearances throughout my story in the last eighteen months. We hadn't spoken for a bit, and he came over to ask how …
Letting Go of Little Hopes
For the past month, I've been struggling with a topic. No kidding - I have seven different drafts in my blog's trash folder right now. The words were too harsh, too negative, too mopey...I don't know what, exactly, but I do know they just weren't right. So here's my best shot at what's on my …
Peace in the Jungle
Dreams are really interesting to me. Until last year, I rarely remembered my dreams the next morning. But then life happened. And then the nightmares happened. And then, with a lot of work and effort, growth happened. Whether you believe in "meaning" behind dreams or not is fine with me either way, but I tend …
So Lucky For It: My Prolonged Exposure Therapy Experience in Alaska
One of the final, major steps in some forms of PTSD recovery is In Vivo Prolonged Exposure Therapy (PET). In this form of treatment, the PTSD survivor returns to the original (or a very similar) trauma site to face his or her fears associated with the trauma location. To give you a little background in …
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Finding the Flowers: When You Don’t Get What You Want
The journal I used throughout my PTSD treatment has a quote by Henri Matisse on the cover: "There are always flowers for those who want to see them." I chose this notebook because, during that time of my life, I was bombarded by fear, anxiety, panic attacks, flashbacks, and nightmares - not to mention the …
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IBS Takes Guts 