Please Welcome JQ Rose as She Gives Teens some Awesome Advice

Hello Readers.

Lisa, thank you so much for hosting me on your blog today.

Are you familiar with the song, “Little Boxes” written in 1963 by Melvina Reynolds?

~If you want to use the youtube video here’s the link~

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_2lGkEU4Xs

Little boxes on the hillside,
Little boxes made of ticky tacky
Little boxes on the hillside,
Little boxes all the same,
There’s a pink one and a green one
And a blue one and a yellow one
And they’re all made out of ticky tacky
And they all look just the same.

Lyrics from http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/m/malvina_reynolds/little_boxes.html

Listeners to the catchy tune and lyrics have several ideas for its meaning. One of them is the protest against all the cheap housing of suburbia which sprang up in the 60’s. People called the sub-divisions a cookie-cutter method of building homes with ticky tacky or shoddy materials.

The message I receive from the lyrics is the complaint of everyone trying to be the same and not stand out, but conforming to what someone else thinks they should be. Pre-teens and teens especially want to “fit in.” A person is embarrassed or humiliated for being different. Wearing the wrong clothes, having big ears, not speaking clearly can all be reasons for a bully or uncaring person to criticize and make fun. Sad to say the teasing happens all the time, and it is hurtful.

In my non-fiction ebook for girls, Girls Succeed: Stories Behind the Careers of Successful Women, the family of a woman I interviewed moved so many times when she was a child, she couldn’t make friends. She was always the odd one in a group. Because she didn’t want to stand out, she tried to hide how smart she was and was not proud of it. Finally her last few years in high school, she joined the band and sports teams and made friends. She blossomed into the person she really was. She is now a medical doctor and researcher at a university.

No matter what your age, I think everyone should live by this quote from Oscar Wilde:

Be Yourself. Everyone else is taken.

~~Oscar Wilde

 

It’s very easy to forget to appreciate all the wonderful qualities each of us has. Instead of grumbling about what you don’t have, list the positive things in your personality. Every person is special with gifts and talents inside us just waiting to be developed along our life journey.

 

Tagline: Inspiring and empowering girls to achieve success in their dream careers.

Smashwords Link http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/241825

Amazon Link  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009NY6ZAS

Kobo Link http://www.kobobooks.com/search/search.html?q=girls+succeed%3A+stories+behind+the+careers+of+successful+women

Barnes and Noble Link http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/girls-succeed-jq-rose/1114041658?ean=2940045118033

Sony Link https://ebookstore.sony.com/ebook/j-q-rose/girls-succeed-stories-behind-the-careers-of-successful-women/_/R-400000000000000883970

Bio: After writing feature articles in magazines, newspapers, and online magazines for over fifteen years, J.Q. Rose entered the world of fiction writing with her published mysteries released by Muse It Up Publishing. With Girls Succeed: Stories Behind the Careers of Successful Women she returns to her first love, writing about real people.  Blogging, photography, Pegs and Jokers board games, and travel are the things that keep her out of trouble. Spending winters in Florida with her husband allows Janet the opportunity to enjoy the life of a snowbird. Summer finds her camping and hunting toads, frogs, and salamanders with her four grandsons and granddaughter.

Connect with J.Q. Rose online at

Girls Succeed blog http://girlssucceed.blogspot.com/

J.Q. Rose blog http://www.jqrose.com/

Author website http://jqrose.webs.com/

J. Q.  Rose Amazon Author Page http://tinyurl.com/aeuv4m4

 

 

Book trailer http://animoto.com/play/QcAByshul5wZ5Bob9bdiug

Thanks for sharing your words of wisdom JQ! I’ve got your book on my TBR pile and will be writing a review soon! 🙂

Please share some of your stories of courage or when you started to bloom! We’d love to read about them! 🙂

Thanks for stopping by and reading JQ’s Post today! 🙂

Welcome Julia as She Shares Her Experience With Cutting With All of Us

Hello Everyone! I hope all is well with you! I’ve been busy this last week with Blog Hops and Book Fairs, but I’m back with another teen issue. The issue I’m talking about is Cutting or Self Harm.

According to my research, cutting is on the rise. In fact, the number of children and teenagers who have asked for help after considering hurting themselves with knives or drugs has gone up by two thirds in a year.

Read more from this article here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2243369/Worrying-teenage-trend-self-harming-sparks-sharp-increase-calls-Childline.html

I read about this and I wonder how does this happen? How do teens spiral down into this web of hurting themselves to feel better? So, what I did is, I spoke with someone who’s been in that predicament. Please welcome Julia Blakeney. She’s here to share her story on Self Harm.

Welcome Julia!

First a little bit of information. Julia is nineteen years old and a sophomore in college. She’s hoping to transfer to LSU for the next academic year.

This is Julie with her sister. Julie is on the right.

Julia how did this all start?

It started in high school. I was feeling depressed and my mother, who was in health care at the time, took me to the doctor. He prescribed an anti-depressant (Prozac) and had me speak with a social worker. That worked for a while.

Then the summer after my junior year in high school my brother and my best friend went to boot camp. My brother, who is two years older than me, went into the army. And my best friend, who is one year older than me, went into the Navy. I felt totally alone and I didn’t have anyone to talk to.

So would you say your brother and your friend leaving was a trigger to the cutting behavior?

Yes. I would have to say that. I became angry and felt like I was screwing up all the time. My parents always seemed mad and so did my sister. And I couldn’t talk to my mother when she was angry with me.

Is this when you started cutting yourself?

Yes. It made me feel better to cut myself. It seemed to relieve the pressure. Please understand the cutting is not to get attention like so many people think. I tried to hide it. I would wear bracelets to hide the scars.

Why do you think you started cutting yourself?

I felt angry. Angry at being left behind by my friend and my brother. I also repressed a lot of anger and sadness. I wouldn’t let myself be sad or cry over missing my friend and brother.

Why do you think cutting made you feel better?

I’m not sure why cutting made me feel better. Maybe it was because of the adrenaline or it could be about control. You know, controlling the pain.

Did your Social Worker know?

I stopped going to her at the end of my junior year, so I don’t think so.

How did you stop?

I finally told my mom. And she was really cool. She didn’t yell or scream at me, but she did take away all the sharp objects that I could use to cut myself. I didn’t want to ask for help. My mom had me go back to my therapist and I switched medication. I dropped Prozac and started taking Zoloft. That’s when I stopped cutting.

However, I became anti-social during my senior year. I wasn’t feeling well emotionally and I didn’t want to be around people. I stayed in my room a lot.

Wow. Sounds like you were going through a lot. Can you tell us the warning signs that we should look out for?

Yes. My behavior changed radically. I was happy and outgoing and then I became withdrawn. I was sleeping a lot and that worried my mother. She took me to the doctor because she thought I had Mono.

I was crying a lot and then I shut down my emotions because no one wanted to hear about it. That’s when I started cutting.

Thanks Julia for being brave and sharing your story with us!

Cutting or Self Harm is a sign of emotional distress that young teens can’t articulate into words. According to http://www.mind.org.uk/mental_health_a-z/8006_self-harm  young women are more likely to engage in this type of behavior. For more information on self-harm please click on this link.  http://www.mind.org.uk/mental_health_a-z/8006_self-harm

Thanks Julia for being here today and sharing your story. If you suspect someone you know is engaging in this type of behavior please let an authority figure know, so they can take steps to intervene before it’s too late. Because self harm is the first step toward suicide. Please leave a comment and share your thoughts. If you have a question, speak up and we’ll try and answer it for you! 🙂

Thanks for reading my post today! 🙂