Why This Blog

Last year my sister was diagnosed with a debilitating illness.  During her drive to get better and improve her life, she started reading a great deal of personal development material and sent some along to share with me. Although I had read a bit of this type of "pop-psychology" before, often folding elements into my existing framework (based on degrees in psychology and eduction along with a pretty solid faith rooted in Catholicism), I had never really taken any of the ideas onboard wholeheartedly or with any real concerted application.  In fact, I often had conflicting feelings about the ideas espoused and while I was drawn to them, I was also repelled by them.

My sister and I had many discussions about the ideas they contained and how we might apply them in our lives.  I found it very helpful to discuss these things with her, which made it a bit easier to actually try out some of the methods.  I was having a particularly rough time emotionally, which I believe was largely the result of the financial circumstances I was in with my family.  It seemed as though I had little to lose, and perhaps this was the ideal time to put some effort into "healing my life" in a real way.

I have always loved writing, and often construct my own thoughts as if I were writing them for someone to read. I thought, "Why not actually do that while you are evaluating these ideas?" Others may benefit from hearing how someone works to improve their life using these philosophies and tools --as opposed to hearing what someone selling them might say, or just reading the always positive testimonials used to promote books, seminars and DVDs. Millions of people have read "The Secret" and other books of the same ilk, and wondered "Is this for me?" "Will this work?" "This sounds good, but how can I know if it isn't just hype?"  "What will my life look like if I try some of these approaches?" Not that I believe my experiences will necessarily be indicative of anyone else's, but perhaps by sharing them I can help others decide for themselves if they want to dive in and try to change their life based on the types of principles found in the "Law of Attraction" and other similar philosophies.

In addition, I am hoping that by making a public project of it, I will be more dedicated and more thorough in my efforts.  It will give me an extra nudge to read more, use more tools, and keep it up than if it was all just going on in my little mind.

However, I am not proclaiming myself one of the thousands of "experts" on the web who has the authority to offer advice and wisdom in this area. Instead, I am hoping that by sharing my journey, thoughts, questions and struggles in this area, others can participate in sharing theirs, realize they aren't alone in a struggle to make the Law of Attraction work for them, and find some of their own answers as I work to find mine.

I hope you do find something useful within these pages. I also look forward to hearing from others going through the same thing who might like to share their thoughts or experiences.