April is National Alcohol Awareness Month

Did you know that April is National Alcohol Awareness Month?

Alcohol dependency and addiction aren’t often talked about openly–especially since we live in a culture where alcohol consumption is the center stage in so many social activities. It’s something that is so common, that we sometimes feel as if we have to explain ourselves if we don’t want to partake; we’ll make excuses like “I have a headache,” or “I’ll just get sleepy” or “I have to work early tomorrow”–which all might be true (and all are good reasons to refrain from drinking alcohol!) but it’s telling that we often feel the need to provide a reason instead of just saying “no thank you.”

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On Self-Care

Self-care is a concept that has often been romanticized and unrealistically portrayed on social media posts and quotes, but what does self-care really mean and is it as simple as taking luxurious bubble baths, listening to your favorite playlist on repeat, indulging in ice cream and Netflix? While these can be helpful and uplifting, in the process of trying to ‘feel better’ we sometimes entirely disregard the issues that brought us to feeling upset, anxious, irritated, exhausted, empty; the list goes on. When we have physical wounds, we do not simply put on a plaster or bandage without first treating the wound – but this is what many of us do with our emotional wounds. Continue reading →