Alexis Rose's Blog, page 22
February 24, 2018
Lessons from the Flowers
I take with me the lessons from the flowers.
I will persevere and grow
silently displaying my beauty and strength.
I will reach towards the sun
hold fast during storms
I will live life fully in bloom.
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©Alexis Rose, Photo by Elijah Hail on Unsplash
Thank you for reading my new book, If I Could Tell You How It Feels, available in both ebook and paperback from Amazon.
February 20, 2018
Transient
The past 2 1/2 years of blogging have been wonderful! I never imagined myself as a blogger, in fact, I didn’t even understand that blogging was more than a way to share recipes, and travel pictures for family and friends. Wow, I was so wrong! I absolutely enjoy bloggers who share recipes and travel adventures. I look forward to reading their posts and make a point to follow as many as I can.
I didn’t think I would find myself in the niche of mental health blogging. Maybe it’s not really a niche. Maybe my posts just fall into that category because that’s what I know and that’s the part of my life I share in my posts. The mental health community that has become a big part of my life.
Writing and connecting with so many other bloggers from around the world has opened my eyes to something I feel like I know for sure: We all want to feel happiness, we want to be seen and we want to be heard. Whatever that looks like or feels like is completely individualized.
We found a community. It’s open and it grows and is inclusive. The country where we write from, the time of day or night, the topics from just a hello, to deep thoughts and feelings are welcome. People are interesting…we may not think we are, but we are! We are also transient.
I found myself thinking about that transience a lot the past couple of days. We weave in and out of each other’s lives by virtue of a post. We cheer each other’s victory’s, good recipes, beautiful pictures, job search’s, and day-to-day musings. We provide support for our health issues, our fears, our struggles, and our disappointments. We write opinions and comments, and “likes’ when we want to make sure that “you” have been seen and heard.
It doesn’t really matter to me if we have been following each other for two years or two days, I find I’m invested. I have a full life outside of blogging, and I’m also a blogger. If I didn’t find a connection, I wouldn’t be doing this. I take the time to read through the posts, as I hope people take the time to read through mine. Sometimes we find a solid connection, sometimes it’s fleeting, sometimes it’s just a respectful read.
I understand the transience of social media and blogging. I understand the impermanence of people coming in and out of our lives. Some of them become our teachers, some of them become cautionary tales, some of them we find are our neighbors and we become friends. It’s a strange and wonderful world.
As I find myself thinking the last few days of bloggers who have passed away or those who have simply moved on to other things in their lives, or the ones who have cried out for help and went silent, I find myself feeling a sense of peace. For a moment in time, we have provided each other (whether your following is 1 or 10,000) with a way to be seen, be heard, and to connect.
Thank You to all who take the time to follow me!
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Photo by Slava Bowman on Unsplash
February 19, 2018
Beyond the Next Cloud
If only for a moment
Stop, turn your face to the sun
Let it warm you from the inside out.
Feel the gentle wind blow away any doubts.
Imagine that the expanse of the beckoning sky
Is reminding you that your dreams can come true
and that they lay just beyond the next cloud.
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©words Alexis Rose, Image Source: Pixabay
Thank you for reading my new book, If I Could Tell You How It Feels, available in both ebook and paperback from Amazon.
February 17, 2018
A Little Interview
Thank you, Vinny, at awesomebookpromotion.com for this short 4 question interview.
Featured Author Alexis Rose
Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
Hello!
My name is Alexis Rose and I live in Minnesota. Besides writing, I love to be with my family and friends. I unwind by practicing yoga and spending time outside. Besides writing, I have a part-time marketing job for a couple of wellness centers and teach beginning writing classes. I have two cats and a wonderful emotional support dog that help me write every day. Sometimes it seems like a zoo around here.
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I have always had a fascination with books. I don’t remember a time when I didn’t love to read!
Writing came into my life purely by accident. I had never written anything more than letters or birthday cards, until seven years ago. A friend of mine wanted to know what it felt like for me living with PTSD. Because it’s such an invisible illness, she was at a loss on how to support me. At the time, I was unable to verbalize what it felt like to anyone, let alone to myself. I went home, thought about what I would like to say, and I wrote my first poem.
After showing it to her, she told me I had to start writing. I showed the poem to a few other friends and was invited to collaborate with a couple of artists, using my poetry paired with their artwork.
Three successful inspirational books later, I had developed a fierce love of writing. I took the chance to write on my own without a collaborator. Two years ago I published my memoir, Untangled, A Story of Resilience, Courage, and Triumph, and this month my latest book, If I Could Tell You How It Feels was released.
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read? Who Inspires you in your writings?
I don’t really have favorite authors to read. I’m a fairly equal opportunity reader. I love to give new authors a chance as well as the authors who have been around for a long time.
I read a lot of books on mindfulness. I absolutely love reading historical fiction. I love an author who does their research. I have a pretty good BS meter and don’t like a lot of filler in a book. I’m a person who will sit down with a book and escape into the character’s world. I simply love good books. I read both non-fiction and fiction at the same time. It makes both sides of my brain really happy.
Tell us a little about your latest book?
If I Could Tell You How It Feels is a series of essays and poems about living authentically with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
I write about the reality of living with triggers, flashbacks, and the challenges of working through trauma. I write with vulnerability about the tough subjects of family, friendships, loss, grief, parenting, and therapy.
Whether you are a survivor, someone living with a mental or chronic illness, a professional working within the mental health industry, or you are simply interested in learning more about the intricacies of living and thriving with PTSD, this book will provide new insights and an appreciation of this invisible illness that affects millions of people around the world.
This book is a labor of love for me. My main intention is to begin to break down the stigma of mental illness, especially bringing awareness to PTSD. So far the response has been really good.
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Connect with the Author on their Websites and Social media profiles
February 15, 2018
The Body Electric
I’m going to
Dance it off
Jump it off, sing
Shake out my hands, then my feet
Take a deep breath, maybe two
okay three
Exhale!
Incorporate the possibility that maybe
it’s just frenetic energy.
That it’s not the beast of anxiety
gnashing its teeth, trying to turn
a passing moment, a fleeting thought, a gust of wind
into the choke-hold of frozen fear and breathlessness.
Dance, walk, sing, breathe
A symbiotic relationship with a frenetic moment of the body electric.
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©Alexis Rose, Photo by Daniel Wirtz on Unsplash
Thank you for reading my new book, If I Could Tell You How It Feels, available in both ebook and paperback from Amazon.
February 13, 2018
Whispers in the Night
Whispers in the night
bring memory into full focus.
A series of never-ending still photographs
posed and etched onto, and into my mind.
Perhaps fading a bit in color, smell, taste, and touch
but never completely melting away.
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©words and photo: Alexis Rose
Thank you for reading my new book, If I Could Tell You How It Feels, available in both ebook and paperback from Amazon.
February 12, 2018
Sally’s Cafe and Bookstore – Author Update – Alexis Rose, Sue Coletta, Barb Taub, Yecheilyah Ysrayl and K. D. Dowdall
Im honored to be included in Sally’s Cafe and Bookstore update along with so many other talented authors.
Smorgasbord - Variety is the spice of life
Welcome to the Monday edition of the Cafe and Bookstore Update and the first author with news is Alexis Rose with a new review on Goodreads. If I Could Tell You How It Feels was released on 16th January.
About the book
If I Could Tell You How It Feels is a series of essays and poems about living authentically with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Alexis Rose takes us on a journey into the reality of living with triggers, flashbacks, and the challenges of working through trauma. She writes with intimate vulnerability about the tough subjects of family, friendships, loss, grief, parenting, and therapy.
With a sense of universal hope and honesty, the author collaborated with artist Janet Rosauer to add a dramatic and soulful dimension to many of the chapters.
Whether you are a survivor, someone living with a mental or chronic illness, a professional working within the mental…
View original post 2,449 more words
February 11, 2018
Book Signing Bliss
I had a wonderful experience at a book signing yesterday. It has been an absolute pleasure to see how quickly If I Could Tell You How It Feels, my life journey with PTSD is selling. Meeting a variety of readers and getting to hang out with other artists was an added bonus.
I just really want to take the time to thank all of you here on WordPress who have bought the book, and the people I meet face-to-face who come to book signings, support me on Facebook and my friends and family.
My hope that this little book will continue to bring awareness to PTSD and begin to break down the stigma of living with a chronic mental or physical illness. Let’s begin to emerge from the shadows together.
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Photo: Alexis Rose, author, and Janet Rosauer, artist
Thank you for reading my new book, If I Could Tell You How It Feels, available in both ebook and paperback from Amazon.
February 8, 2018
Time to Press the Reset Button
When I react from a place fraught with anxiety
and heavy-leaden exhaustion.
When anger, frustration, and thick frenetic energy courses through
my body and mind, leaving me breathing hard, and tight as
if I had just run a marathon, top speed through
the seven gates of hell.
When I can’t stand to think, read, engage, or ground.
When that becomes my existence, my life, my scraggly mood than
I know that I need to press my Reset Button.
My Reset Button reminds me that I’m able:
To experience and not think
To listen and not speak
To let allow myself time to play and laugh with glee
To rest and not judge
To connect with the trees, water, fire, and land
To leave worry and self-doubt behind
To Just Be
I just pressed the Reset Button…I can breathe!
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©words and photo: Alexis Rose
Thank you for reading my new book, If I Could Tell You How It Feels, available in both ebook and paperback from Amazon.
February 6, 2018
The trees remind us to trust the journey
She connects with the world
through her heart.
Tending to one flower, one smile,
one child at a time.
As she walks through the woods
the sound of the trees reminds her
that as long as she trusts the journey
she will find peace.
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©Alexis Rose, Photo by Nelly Volkovich on Unsplash
Thank you for reading my new book, If I Could Tell You How It Feels, available in both ebook and paperback from Amazon.
