NatAndChat

We underestimate the importance of honesty. And a lack of honesty with ourselves is how we survive...telling ourselves stories to make what we experience in life bearable. It's not that we ever want to deceive anyone, or ourselves, but we are built around the need to be comfortable and sometimes we reach that through non-truths. I have experienced the non-truths being more harmful than helpful, an...

The older I get, the harder trust is. And not by ignorance...by experience. I want to figure this one out. I wish I could even trust finding trust were possible.

My approval of myself has been the lifelong dream for me. "Others" never successfully convinced me their approval was worth anything. The enigma of my own positive self-view is what I see as the goal and the gold. Who am I trying to impress? Thats not even the word for it...if others can relate to me, I want to be SHARING with them.

The two are so similar, sometimes we tell ourselves we are being strong when we are actually being stubborn. I needed to realize this, and maybe someone else could use this too.

To a large extent each of us can decide who we are...what choices we make and how we affect others. You decide whether you hug or hit, laugh or shout, ask for help, or freak the fuck out. Ask yourself: Who am I?

It's a healthy skill to master-being able to see that the way others act and sound is usually NOT about you. Allow others to be and do "their thing", even if they sound rude. They might even need to be reminded to worry about themselves. That's what happened to me, and it was one of the best lessons I've been given. I won't turn your attitude into being about me. I'll let you show the world whatev...

I don't know why feeling a real reciprocal connection with someone is so disconcerting. I think its possibly a vulnerable space where you accept being seen because someone else has recognition of themselves in YOU. And vice versa. It doesn't need to be uncomfortable, and yet when it appears, it is.

A sponge can only soak up what its surrounded by. Worth remembering.

Some people insist on growing and healing while others don't believe they can. The resilient ones get creative, they get working on themselves, and they don't believe pain and discomfort have to be permanent. The resistant ones either don't see it as possible, or they need to believe what they think even longer. In either case, someone has it easier by doing the work, and someone has it harder by...

Mattering to someone is a different level of caring and loving; its existence grows into becoming, it isn't simply "there". Mattering is knowledge shown to and felt by you because it's not ethereal, it's actual. It's knowing I matter to some, while not mattering to others who matter to me that has me thinking.

What do you do when your religion feeds your particular mental illness, making it worse? How do you navigate that to find some level of sanity while maintaining "belief"? After trying a number of things, including feeding the illness by doing everything she felt compelled to do (and then some) Andee is finally concentrating on both physical and mental health like never before. BUT, at the expense...

Getting to know one's self is a process, just as getting to wholeness is. I found a couple coping mechanisms that keep me sane through the process. You probably do them too.

When your insides radiate to your outsides, and your inner beauty shows; you sparkle. You don't get to control it, people will SEE you, even if you are the opposite of Sparkly.

Working on one's self seems to be one of the best paths to a smoother life. Ignoring your feelings sounds pretty smooth, but the reality is THAT'S the rough road and the rough ride. We seem to have a lot of things backwards, and looking at your "stuff" is actually easier than you think. In fact, it's the easiest...since not looking, is a long term problem creator.

To say I was naive at 19 is an understatement. With no internet, it's possible today's 7 year old knows more than I did back then. One thing I was sure of...furthering my education after high school wasn't as important as babies needing to be held. I kind of feel the same all these years later, because education happens when you are paying attention. The main difference now as an adult is that I c...

Romania brought me a brother and sister. Something I don't share in this is that 100% of the children in my orphanage abandoned before the age of 4 were autistic. This "type" of autism created by being abandoned and then ignored is like a fatal form of autism that destroys the human. Which is another reason I call this "the short story". The reality; the long story -is pretty intense. My book is t...

I spent a year in Romania volunteering in an Orphanage. My life and my "who" are different because of the perspective that year gave me. We don't get away from anything without being touched by others.

I sat down with my friend Jacob to explain my obsession with intonation.  In his work as a Photographer and working for wingatewildernesstherapy.com he sees the importance of intonation better than ever after our chat.  With his encouragement I'm creating a course on it. It will be available through me: nat@natandchat.com I hope you too find this useful!

Sometimes you think you know something or someone, and you are WRONG!

What you do with a relationship is more choice than you'd like to admit. Being conscious, choosing perspective, and acting -all in reciprocity is vital.

What do you worship? Is it "your god"? Who is your god? Who told you who your god is? Are your beliefs YOURS?

My mind uses words, my heart feelings. Trying to get the two to understand one another is difficult. They each have their own experience with anything.

This is a small piece from one of my books. A personal story I will consider making available here in the future.

Getting through winter in order to reach spring. Which is also a way to say, getting through pain in order to reach growth. Will you drown, or build a boat to survive?

We can't take innocence for granted, whatever your age. We must do everything in our power to love, protect, and cherish.