Blog Update (What Ideas are in the Future)

So I have been running this blog for the past 7 months. Although I have taken a few breaks due to life this blog has been active in my opinion.

Lately, I have been thinking about making some changes to the organization of my content. Changes such as creating a separate blog for nail art and diy crafts once I get the all the materials to do so.

A review blog, don't really know if I'm going to link it on here or the separate blog being that most of my reviews would have something to do my projects.

Seems like some of you guys adore the relationship advice thinking about doing a spin off for that to or I just might keep it on here.

Finally, I'm thinking of doing a psychology and sociology spin off so some of you guys can learn these fascinated fields and disorders along with me.

Some of these changes would start to take place slowly, I am constantly studying, doing assignments, cooking, cleaning (or as someone once told me practicing for the role of a wife/mom) and by the end of the day blogging is the last thing on my mind (I'm trying to do better)

When should you look for these changes: God is willing the beginning of next year I would love to have at least a hand full of content on each one before I launch them.

What To Cook Wensday

Sweet Sriracha Salmon

Ingredients

·         Sriracha Sauce

·         Coarse Sea salt

·         1 ¼  pound of Salmon Fillets skin removed

·         1 large chopped Vidalia Onion

·         Garlic

·         Black pepper

·         2 table spoons of brown sugar

·         Olive Oil

·         Scallion

·         cilantro

Directions

Lightly season the salmon fillets with the sea salt and black pepper.  In a medium size pan add a few drops of olive oil and start the heat to a medium high. Wait a few minutes before placing your salmon fillets in your pan. Brown them on both sides then remove them. Place you chopped Vidalia onion and garlic and sautéed them until they are translucent. Place your salmon on top of the sautéed veggies and place a lid over the pan. Turn the heat down to a medium. In a separate bowl mix your sriracha and brown sugar in a bowl loosen it up with water and pour the mixture over the salmon and cook until it’s cooked all the way through. Can be garnished with scallions and cilantro then served.

Oven Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees, In a bowl whisk brown sugar, sriracha, salt, black pepper and water. Place salmon fillets in a lightly greased baking dish. Pour sriracha mixture on top cover with lid or aluminum foil. Roast until cooked through and flaky. About 15 minutes.  Can be garnished with scallion or cilantro, then served.

Serving tips

Pairs well with rice and steamed vegetables or on top of a salad.

Social Stigma On Mental Health Disorders

Social Stigma on Mental Health Disorders

 

There’s definitely a social stigma on mental health disorders although it’s slowly declining. Stephen P Hinshaw stated that “Of all the stigmatized conditions in current society, mental health illness is at the top of the list”. I agree with this statement most people have labeled mental health illnesses as being “Insane”. People that are diagnosed with mental disorders tends to be discriminated against and is often subjected to social isolation.

One of my family members have been diagnosed with bipolar. Although I have never witnessed him act strange and he seems to be functional and social around people. The majority of the family sway away from him. Making comments such as “I can’t deal with him and his mood swings” or “He’s crazy don’t mind him” warning people about his illness as if it defines him as a person.

Society isn’t very knowledgeable about mental health disorders. They classify people with some of the more popularized disorders such as depression, bipolar, and anxiety. As unstable, lazy, and out of control.

A survey of 1700 adults in the U.K during the year 2000. Found that most of the participants view people who suffer with schizophrenia, alcoholism and drug dependence as dangerous. Eating disorders and substance abuse are self-inflicted and

over all people with mental health disorders are hard to talk to. (Crisp, Gelder, Rix, Meltzer et al., 2000; Bryne, 1997; Heginbotham, 1998). 

These are the views of society. Many people are afraid of being labeled, isolated and discriminated against. So they refuse to seek medical attention for a proper diagnoses and some know they have a disorder but avoid or afraid to seek treatment. We are taught to hide our negative feelings in public settings and those who can’t control their composure are weak.  This is why many feel that they are alone with their mental health issues and opt not to talk about their problems with others.  Some are in denial because they refuse to believe or except that something is wrong with them because of the social stigma associated with psychological disorders

I have friends and family members that are struggling with mental disorders such as depression, bipolar, schizophrenia and anxiety. Who are in denial because they are afraid of accepting that’s something is wrong until their behavior spiraled out of control. Instead of seeking therapy to help them cope with their disorders. Some turn to control substances which worsens their symptoms due to their dependence on these substances.  Most isolate themselves because of the criticism from their peers. Others normalize their disorders because what is considered abnormal today was considered normal a few decades ago.

Mental health disorders are showing up more frequently in the media because celebrities are being diagnose. Although they have proved to the world that some misconceptions geared toward mental health disorders are wrong.  Few have publicly opened up and talked about their struggles. A great deal of hotlines and websites which are resources for people with mental health disorders have been created. For those individual who need to talk to someone confidentially or information on how to cope in a healthily manner.  Yet, it seems like more things need to be done in order to erase the stigma.

 Personally my opinion is the only way is to educate people about mental health. Ignorance can be a dangerous thing, people tend to negatively categorize things that they don’t understand. By educating people about psychological disorders they would realize that not only are the symptoms of many disorders are similar, but some of these symptoms are things that they themselves consider to be normal.  Mood swings, anxiousness, and extreme sadness just to name a few, are things that many people experience at some point within their lives. Once people begin to realize that we all have problems and question; What is Normal? What is Abnormal? The stigma would change, more people would seek medical attention, and suicide rates would decrease.

 

 

Resources

The Mark of Shame: Stigma of Mental Illness and an Agenda for Change. Hinshaw, Stephen P. New York, NY, US: Oxford University Press (2007) www.psycnet.apa.org

Mental Health & Stigma, Aug 20,2013. Graham C.L Davey. Ph.D. www. Psychologytoday.com

 

Treat People the Way You Wanna be Treated!

I know some of you are probably thinking that this is such a elementary piece of advice but honestly this is one of those messages that I feel is the Holy Grail to having a wonderful life. Now I'm not saying that if you treat everyone they way you want to be treated that no one is going to mistreat you. However, why should you go around treating other human beings in a nasty manner?

I remember (I hope my personal life references aren't getting aggravating) when I was at a stage in my life where I was just angry. I had reasons to be angry but my anger at one point was actually taking over my life. I must admit sometimes I'm still a very angry person but before I was just so upset about every single thing and it projected out of me in a way where people that I would meet saw it. During this brief period in my life I was being a total bitch to almost everyone around me.

It was like I was protecting myself from being hurt not realizing that in the process I was doing the same thing to people that others were doing to me. (A low blow artist) That's exactly what I was the type of person that would say or bring up something just to hurt someone and sad to say I use to pride myself over it.

It wasn't until I started to pay attention to how things made me feel. That it dawned on me that I was make others feel the same way.We all know I'm not prefect but I don't try to hurt people anymore matter of fact I try to avoid drama and arguments all together theses days.

What I'm trying to say is you can't expect something you aren't willing to give . If you don't respect other people regardless of how they live their lives how can you expect someone to respect you and your life choices?

Learn to spread love instead of hatred and anger. You would in return get love back.  Now everyone you attract isn't going to give you love in return and that ok. Don't become bitter because of that, for every person that doesn't treat you the way you treat them there's someone out there that would appreciate your love and kindness.

When I was volunteering at a local soup kitchen. I put this into practice and treated everybody like they were royalty because we had something in common. We were all people that have feelings in return I met some really awesome human beings. That taught me some very valuable lessons in life. Lessons I would have never learn if I never realized that I needed to humble myself.

So when I say treat people they way you want to be treated, I mean just that. If you want to be treated bad then by all means treat people the same way but no one wants to be treated bad. Let's be honest!

Love You Guys!

Petals Falling Until Next Time! xoxoxo!

What to Cook Wednesday..!

Cajun Cornish Hens

Ingredients

• 2 Cornish Hens
• Onion (Optional)
• Cajun Spices
• Rosemary
• Red Pepper Flakes
• Butter or Olive Oil
• Sea Salt
• Black Pepper

Directions

If it has already been done remove all the inner parts of the Cornish Hens. If you want to butterfly then this is the time to do so. Rub your Herbs, Spices and Butter or Olive Oil on your hens. Make sure to rub underneath the skin but be careful not to rip the skin. Set the chicken aside for the minimum of 30 minutes. Slice a large onion (this is optional I'm one of those people that don't like the cooking meat without onion)  Preheat you oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease you baking pan and cover the bottom with your onions, place your hens on top  and cover the pan. Bake for 1 hour and 30 minutes. Don't forget to base your hens ever 15 minutes or so. (You might have to remove your lid for the skin to crisp up on the hens do this within the last 20 minutes) Remove the hens from the oven and let them rest before serving.

Tips for Serving

This can be served in many different ways either with salads or along side roasted potatoes you can mix up the sides with this particular chicken dish.

Celibacy Lifestyle: (My Views)

 

 

 

Celibacy: Why some people are opting to live this lifestyle

This day and age sex which use to be something intimate between to people that care for one another has become so casual. Virtually a thriving relationship without sex and seem to be something that we only hear about in rated pg-13 formatted media for preteens. Many people tend to stop believing in saving themselves for someone special after that have already engaged in sexual activities. So the whole hope of waiting until marriage seem to be erased out of their mind set. However, some individuals are making the choice of straying away from sex until that special person comes along.

You maybe asking yourself why after already letting “Thieves rob from your temple”, but after realizing how sex have changed over the years you maybe thinking about making the change yourself. For me I haven’t made this choice simply because of the fact that I know myself and I really don’t know what the future might hold and don’t want to feel guilty if I had to give into my urges. However, I do agree with the view of “not having just anyone enter into my body”. The prefect analogy is see your body as being your home. You wouldn’t let just anyone come to your house because it’s your sanctuary and only special people can say they have had the pleasure of your hospitality.  

Sex use to be something the sealed the deal of actual feelings and now. Our generation don’t mind throwing our stuff from wall to wall everything is highly sexualized today. Including or children (Read my blog on sex education for more info about sex ed) so its hard to tell what someone really wants from a relationship. At one point it was clear when a  girlfriend or boyfriend changed from liking you to falling in absolute love. Now, we have to question feelings many people can relate to opening up because of love only to realize they were involved in a game they didn’t even know was being played until they gave away the prize. This is one reason why a person decides to wait for that special person to come along. They’re many other reasons involving the epidemic of sexually transmitted diseases and wanting to go through testing and then come to a point to complete trust in there partners before engaging in a sexual relationship. Some are making this decision because of being born again and giving their lives to the Lord.

We all know that fornication is spoken about in the bible and many of us feel as if we failed because we couldn’t wait until marriage. Especially, when marriage is no longer something promised, or permeant. Ok, Imma be real most of us just grew up and tried to be grown just to dang on fast. I know I did and I don’t regret my decisions in life I either learned from them or grew from them one way or the other. I just believe that it time to erase the stigma of impurity because a person had sex before marriage. If they want to regain responsibility in their sex life a wait from vows or someone they know is going to respect them and their bodies then let them do it freely without holding their past above their heads. We have all made mistakes in life and like a few people I hold close to me once said “Everyone has had a hoe moment” Although this statement might not be 100% true. Everyone has done something they aren’t to happy about and their past choices shouldn’t prevent them from happiness and if they feel like a celibate lifestyle is the way to build a strong foundation for life-long intimacy then simply respect their decision.

Love the skin your in!.(My experience with self love)

I'm writing this because many young people have been through this growing up. For those who have never been through they simply don't seem to understand what it's like to feel alienated inside of your own skin.

Growing up, I would say that I wasn't the prettiest or had the best body in school, but I would say I was uniquely beautiful in my own way. Coming for a mother who is an extremely beautiful mixed African American woman and a father who was uniquely handsome Tanzanian man. Looking like my father I didn't look like the other children in my class. As with everything when you look different your a target for the evil comments about your appearance.

By the time I was in the third grade I started to realize that not only did I have large slanted eyes, a full bottom lip and I blessed with my father's flat nose. That I was bigger then mostly everyone else. It wasn't the lack of activity because I ran just as fast, danced just as good,  jumped just as high, and you can just say I kept up with the smaller girls. So most of my friends where smaller girls. Except for a few.

This was at the age when I started to become interested in boys and I was noticing that they looking passed me and at my friends. I think this is when I begin to pretend like it didn't bother me even though it did. This is when I began to eat my feelings. I wasn't the typical over weight girl that stuffed my face with cookie and cakes (My mother didn't really keep such things in the house) but when that moment came I binged. Being in denial saying that  I'm good I don't eat that much Monday through Saturday I only eat a lot on Sundays so I should be fine. I wasn't fine I continued to blow up.

It wasn't until 8th grade in middle school when I began to realize I wasn't the only one who was uniquely beautiful and that I should except my beauty for what it was (different) Just because I was feeling good didn't mean the name calling, little remarks, and stuff like that ended, it continued. Once I was I  High School I was able to prefect the image  of "not caring" but I use to go home and look at myself in the mirror and just be upset.  It just felt like I was just blessed with an amazing personality but very few people took the time out to show interest in knowing me.

High School was the place where I rebelled because I felt like no one understood me and when I came across those who excepted me I tend to have been a little rebellious. It was like run across a bunch of misfits for different reasons and finally feeling like you belonged. School had became a memory for me I no longer wanted to be there so I started cutting class a lot. Then eventually said to hell with school all together at the age of 16.

When I was 17 it dawned on me after being out of school for a few months that I was a drop out and decided that if I was going to fix anything in my life I was going to fix not having a diploma and enrolled in Job Corps. I remember people swearing that I couldn't do it.  That's when I can say was the first time that I did something that wasn't rebellious because people said I couldn't. I began to realize my strength during this time ( might sound crazy) but regardless of how I felt on the inside. I had just freshly turned 17, packed up my bags, and went somewhere with a bunch of people I didn't know in a location I've never been. I was without my friends (Whom I consider my family), my mother was everything, and I was at a place I couldn't run away from whenever I wanted to . A month after what was suppose to have been the beginning of  my senior started I had my diploma and that was the moment.

I stopped basing my life on what people said about me. I'm not gunna lie I still cared but I no longer let there word's define me. That's when I had a peace of mind for everyone who called me ugly, fat, stupid, dumb, and etc there was someone who said the opposite. I made it my mission to only focus on the positivity in my life. Did I continue to rebel? of course I was a teenager with very strict mother but I wasn't rebelling against myself.

Children these days have it so much worst at least when I was growing up I didn't have a Kardashian Family that the world thought everyone and their bodies should look like. I was never the one to open up about my feelings growing up but if no one tell our children that they too felt such was then like me they're going to feel alone lucky for my mom I just rebelled. Some kids actually take their lives because of this.

I started to paint my picture based on my perception of myself and no one has been able to tell me that my abstract art wasn't beautiful...

Hope this Helped Someone!

Love You Guys!

Petals Falling til Next Time! xoxoxo!