The blooming sunflower in my backyard!

A reflection piece on power: People define power in different ways: money, career, lifestyle. Your own sense of power comes from within. The most powerful people in my eyes are not the ones who can control or influence that which is around them. The most powerful people are in control of their lives. Self-control and awareness- the ability to know your strengths and limitations, and the ability to change your own life in the way you want to. More important than exercising power in the world outside of us, is feeling powerful within.  -Cheryl Cherian

Getting in bed with a nice cup of tea ☂

A piece I wrote in class on the topic of powerlessness: Powerlessness is a familiar feeling. I'd like to think I feel powerful all the time, but no. There are many situations in which I feel at a loss of power. For being a woman. For the color of my skin. I remember when a client said he preferred a male counselor, and when I asked him why, he said "You know how it is with women." No, actually, I don't. I felt like my power, my ability, and my capability, were just snatched from under my feet. To this day I hate when people assume I'm anything less than what I am because of the color of my skin. It feels unfair, and suddenly it becomes my intent to prove them wrong. I've felt powerless because of my age as well, or my perceived age, based on my appearance or size. For most, it's thinking I'm less aware of less experienced. I think feeling powerful comes in a way, from knowing you are heard and your input is valued. While moments when this is not t

 Every time I see the Florida water, I think how lucky I am to live where everyone vacations ☀

Some follow-up pictures from the event at which I spoke about self-awareness and self-exploration with the teenagers of Tampa:

The Power of Pain Pain is probably one of the most powerful feelings in the world. Out emotions drive our actions, our choices to do or not do something. Of all the emotions, pain- feeling hurt, low, experiencing something so unfair- pain drives people to act. When I think of counseling and those in the helping professions, I realize that for many of us, pain experienced directly or indirectly, has led us to this field. For myself, I think of when I experienced the passing of someone close to me, and how low I had felt at that time. There was power in that pain. Wanting and knowing that it is my duty, when it's in my ability, to help people in their pursuit of happiness and the pursuit of the lives they want and deserve. Apart from that, there's also power in the pain of all the clients I see. Interacting with their pain, and seeing clients progress, gives me all of the joy and the drive to keep doing what I'm doing, and the willingness and desire to do it better each da