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This is my garden. It is a place to share what I've learned about life. It is a place to talk about history and progress.
It is a place to share vision and values- wisdom, strength and hope. It may be a place where you find some inspiration or
where you meet a friend. Soon I'll include a list of my favorite links to other sites. There will be links to recovery, links
to wellness, links to a bright and promising future.
This is also a rosestory. My friend Steve has suggested that I call the site a herstory, modifying the defintion
of history to reflect that I am a 'her'. But I am not just a her, I'm a person, a person who is like a rose growing
in a garden. And for that reason, I've modified his definition to how I've defined the site.
Main Entry: rose·sto·ry
Pronunciation: 'rOs-st(&-)rEFunction: noun 1 : Tale, Story 2 a : a rose's record of significant events,
often including an explanation of their causes from her perspective b : a treatise presenting systematically related natural
phenomena c : an account of a patient's medical background d : an established record <a prisoner with a rosestory of violence> 3
: a branch of knowledge that records and explains past events <contemporary rosestory> 4 a : events that form the
subject matter of a rosestory b : previous treatment, handling, or experience (as of a metal like gold)
For the past 10 years, I've been writing a book that I want to call "The Discipline of Self-Esteem". The discipline
of self-esteem is a term I use to describe the growth that naturally occurs when we treat ourselves with dignity and self-respect.
For some people, that may come naturally, but I grew up with family violence, with an alcoholic parent-
with a father who always told me that I was nothing- despite all evidence to the contrary. And for me and people
like me, it is something that we need to learn from scratch. Over the years, the more that I learn, the more that
I need to learn. And what I've learned so far is this: you can't love anyone else until you love yourself. Loving
yourself has so many layers. You love yourself by forgiving yourself for your mistakes. You love yourself by treating
your person with dignity and respect. You love yourself by eating healthy and nutritious foods- and the variety of opinions
on what is healthy has staggered my imagination. You love yourself by giving yourself an allowance, by budgeting, by
planning for the future. You love yourself by paying attention to your appearance, by fighting for yourself at work,
by telling others what you need. You love yourself by keeping a clean and functional home. All of this and more-
I've had to learn and am still learning. Here I will tell you what I am doing and what is working and what is not working
and maybe we'll learn something- and maybe all that we will learn about is friendship and love- and that is something beyond
price.
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