Would You Rename Yourself?

June 22, 2019

Zoe Hisey My Journey with God, Personal Growth, Recovery, Trauma Action, Bact to School, gratitude, healing, Mental Health, personal growth, psychology, recovery, truth 19 Comments

I did.

Our names are a huge part of our identities…Given by our parents, modified into nicknames we may or may not like, and sometimes linked to our ancestors or favorite family members.

Names have ancient roots or meanings that we often are unaware of. Sometimes, though, our names don’t represent who we really are, or who we want to be.

This is a topic on my mind because I recently changed my name. More

It’s going to be beautiful

August 6, 2017

Zoe Hisey Facing Fear, My Journey with God, Personal Growth, Recovery, Trauma Action, Adventure, Family, gratitude, grief, healing, Mental Health, moving forward, recovery, truth 36 Comments

Last month I went on a 2500 mile solo camping trip on my motorcycle. I went through 7 states in 6 days.

I was both excited and nervous to go solo, but also determined to face my fears.

It was time for some growth.

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Turns out I had so much fun, my fears were forgotten, and definitely for naught. The trip was a confidence booster, and equally important, gave me much needed time for reflection. More

Now I Understand

October 15, 2016

Zoe Hisey Alcoholic Parents, Family, Personal Growth, Recovery healing, Health, Mental Health, motherhood, parenting, recovery, truth 25 Comments

Over the years, I’ve heard several women say they had no intention of babysitting if they had grand kids, or even if they already had them. I was mystified. I couldn’t imagine feeling that way, and assumed if I had grand kids wild horses couldn’t keep me away.

Then I had grand kids.

While it’s true that wild horses can’t keep me away and I do babysit every chance I get…I think I now understand why some people avoid their grand babies and choose not to babysit.

The first few months after our first grandson was born in January was such a confusing mix of joy and pain. I couldn’t understand why I felt so much pain and sorrow when I was so excited and happy. More

This is What I’ve been up to…

June 20, 2016

Zoe Hisey Family, My Journey with God, Personal Growth Family, finding freedom, gratitude, healing, motherhood, parenting, recovery 35 Comments

Two Grandsons -4 months apart!!!!

Lucas arrived in January to our daughter and son-in-law…

Dawson joined the party in May, to our son and daughter-in-law.

These cousins are so cute, and has this Nana all in a swoon!!!

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Roller Coaster Ride

July 9, 2015

Zoe Hisey Facing Fear, Personal Growth, Recovery, Trauma Action, depression, facing fear, finding freedom, Forgiving My Mother, healing, Letting Go, motherhood, Struggle to Forgive 38 Comments

It’s been a roller coaster ride the last 6 months during my blogging sabbatical. Continued growth, awareness, & forgiveness; betrayal; and a surprise!

My decision to back away from blogging and other optional activities was born of necessity. Some important relationships were requiring intensive attention, and I needed to focus on figuring out what my role was in each relationship. It’s never pretty looking in the mirror, but always worth it in the end.

It’s easy to think relationships are strong when times are good.

But when things go awry, you find out what the relationship is really made of.

Finding My Voice

January 24, 2015

Zoe Hisey Facing Fear, Personal Growth, Recovery abuse survivor, emotional strength, facing fear, finding freedom, healing, personal growth, recovery, Transformation, truth 22 Comments

***On a blog sabbatical until July 2015***

Keeping secrets, not telling. The truth was strangled in my throat for so many years.

Once I became strong enough to tell my truth to one, then another, I found increasing healing and empowerment in my words. Getting the awfulness out in the open helped make the darkness flee.

Over time, telling my truth to safe people strengthened me to be able to speak my truth to anyone -even if they didn’t believe me.

Starting this blog nearly 3 years ago has been such an incredibly important part of me speaking truth in a whole new way. Recently, I’ve discovered More

Me, and A Lady in France

December 31, 2014

Zoe Hisey Personal Growth, Recovery A Lady in France, emotional strength, Facing Adversity, healing, Jennie Goutet, Reading, Transformation 31 Comments

It’s satisfying to know I reached my goal of reading 24 books this year. I like saying goodbye to 2014 with a tidy check-mark on my list.

Some of the books were ones I’d meant to get to over a long period, and others I simply stumbled upon. More

Birthdays of My Dad and My Father

December 20, 2014

Zoe Hisey Facing Fear, Family, My Journey with God, Personal Growth, Recovery, Trauma childhood trauma, Christmas Memories, emotional strength, Facing Adversity, facing fear, Family, forgiving dad, Forgiving My Father, healing, Letting Go, Mental Health, recovery, Spiritual Journey, Transformation 13 Comments

Dad’s birthday is today; gone now nearly 5 years, he would be turning 92.

He hated Christmas. Apparently his birthday was forgotten every year in the midst of Christmas preparations when he was growing up. The pain of being forgotten never seemed to leave him. He would not allow us to put up a tree until his birthday had passed, and even then did so grudgingly.

I know now Dad’s Christmas experience is only a tiny window into his life story. More

Exposing Skeletons in the Closet

October 22, 2014

Zoe Hisey Facing Fear, Personal Growth, Recovery, Trauma abuse survivor, childhood trauma, emotional strength, Facing Adversity, finding freedom, getting help, healing, Mental Health, personal growth, recovery, Transformation, truth 30 Comments

With Halloween around the corner, ghoulish decorations are beginning to pop up alongside gargantuan pumpkins, bumpy gourds, and colorful leaves.

A plastic skeleton swinging in the wind recently reminded me of the saying about keeping skeletons in the closet.

My closet is no stranger to skeletons. Some have represented things done to me, others symbolized things I’ve done. Shame and fear were the hinges on my closet doors. Strong and secure, they kept my secrets tucked in the dark.

Or so I thought. More

Journeys of Healing & Discovery

September 2, 2014

Zoe Hisey Personal Growth, Recovery, Trauma Blogging, emotional strength, finding freedom, getting help, gratitude, healing, Joe Pote, Lori Lara, Mental Health, personal growth, PTSD, recovery, Spiritual Journey, The Presents of Presence, Transformation, truth 41 Comments

When I started my road to recovery, I felt incredibly alone. My circle of friends at that time were not interested in things like feeling pain, speaking truth, or self-reflection. Who could blame us, really?

I had myself tightly knit with people who lived in denial, thus allowing me the freedom to do the same. I didn’t even realize the cocoon I lived in until I took several steps away. It felt natural, and safe. Little did I know just how wrong I was…

Joining the blogging community has been such a completely different experience. I’ve found so many people who are interested in growth and healing of all sorts. Some from physical issues, others from emotional, mental, or spiritual ones. My own journey of healing and recovery was catapulted with the discovery of such a rich world of genuinely caring and tremendous people.

There are several such bloggers I’d love to highlight on this ‘blog hop’ I’m on, but today I’ve narrowed it down to two, plus a thank-you for the invitation to join in The Hop.

As part of The Hop, I’ll also answer 4 burning questions at the end! 😉