Connect with Me!
Who am I?
Actually I’ve been trying to answer that question since 1957. I have a master’s degree in counseling psychology, have worked with people in both groups and individually since the 80’s (oh.my.gawd.).
I’ve have spent oodles of time reading self-help books, going to therapy, groups, workshops, and various other forms of what we used to call “self-improvement/help” activities. Yet I am often left with more questions than answers.
One definitive answer I can give you is that I am a very experienced Beautiful Mess Inside™. Hell. I have so much experience that I trademarked the phrase!
I have a compelling desire to get the word out that being messy does not mean we are somehow different or less than other people. For me, life is best navigated while practicing Radical Self-Acceptance.
…Radical Self-Acceptance a.k.a. being comfortable in my more than middle aged skin, life, and mind.
I’m the most extroverted introvert I know. I can be brilliant, dark, and every shade in between. Sometimes I feel alone in a crowd and other times I am crowded when I am alone. Writing and clicking pics* help me stay connected, focused, and present. I teach what I most need to learn.
My Callings
One of the callings came with degree and licenses. Many of you are here because of those. Some of you know me or will know me as your therapist. Others of you know me as the “gayle force” behind A Beautiful Mess Inside.
Next to being alive, the calling I’ve been working at the longest is my marriage to The Man in 1986. We have been “us” for so long that sometimes I forget how to be just me.
I’m also an only child with no birth children of my own, but I have 4 bonus kids. My oldest step-daughter is five years younger than me (ooooopsie – we call it a “May-December” relationship).
I’m also a grandmother (I prefer being called Gigi). The kids took the “go forth and multiply” thing very seriously! 14 times to be exact. Don’t ask me to list their ages (but I probably could.) Suffice it to say they span 17 years. The grandpeeps are my biggest bonus in life.
I’m also the mother of dragons two dog babies known as The Boogie Woogie Beagle Boyz. They are my muses and my most beautiful of messes. (Freddie went to the Rainbow Bridge in 2019. Wilbur now does the muse work for two.)
Remember that thing I said in the first bullet about being an “us for so long that sometimes I forget how to be me”? That leads me to my life’s vocation – practicing Radical Self-Acceptance a.k.a learning how to be comfortable in my more than middle aged skin, life, and mind.
If you are wondering about the etc, I’m also a(n)…
- List Lover 😉
- Digger of/in My Flower Beds
- Over Thinker
- Thinker about Thinking
- Purple Hair Maven
- Oracle Card Reader
- Women Who Is Going (kind of) Grey (kind of) Gracefully
- Macaroni & Cheese Aficionado
- Apple Product Whore
- Comfortable Shoe Wearer (still 💜’s flip flops)
- Beagle Lover
- Yoga Pant Collector
- Wannabe iPhonographer
- Occasional Good Cook (meaning I only cook occasionally)
I also happen to be a quote collector from way back. To see what landed like a fastball right
between my eyes, check out the Wicked Awesome Quotes I curate.
