Confessions of a blogger

Hello, my friends!  This blog post may have a different feel to it today…no kinky sex or tales of spankings (typically, my tail!).  But, it is something that is a long time coming.

For those of you that have been following my blog the past few years, you know that I am currently on a journey of re-discovery.  I am coming out of a long period of darkness, and, I want to get my sparkle back!  During this endeavor, I began to think about who I am as a person and what matters most to me.  The first thing that came to mind was integrity.  My dad would always say that integrity is the one thing that you can give yourself that no one else can take away.  I feel this to be true, down to my very core.  Be honest, be kind.  I live by these words…or, do I?

As a blogger, I have been living a bit of a disconnect between my “real” life and my “on-line life” here on WordPress.  Generally, I have been an open book…I write openly about my sex life, my marriage, my grief, etc.  While some may view an on-line persona as a chance to be someone that you are not, that is not how I ever saw this experience playing out for me.  The friendships that I have made here matter to me deeply.  While I need to remain anonymous, I also want to be my authentic self.

So, here it is.  At one point or another, I have in conversation with some of you, claimed to hold the title of licensed psychologist.  I am not, as of yet.  I initially said this to someone here (and I honestly cannot remember the first time that I made the claim) in conversation to boost my own credibility.  This was incredibly wrong on my part.  It is unethical, and I did the very thing that I try very hard not to do…throw away my own integrity.

The truth is, I have been on the path to become a psychologist for a long time.  About three years ago, I was about a year away from completion.  As many of you know a series of very terrible things happened in my world…infidelity, the unexpected death of my mom, my younger brother overdosing, and we lost our fur baby of 14 years.  Life was dark.  I withdrew from my Ph.D program and took a leave of absence.  About six months ago, I picked back up where I had left off with my training.  I am scheduled to graduate in six months (with my Ph.D in Counseling Psychology) and then will begin the licensure process.

Some may wonder…but what about the Professor part, is that true?  Yes, I am a Professor in my “real” life and I do teach at the University.  I am a Professor of Communication Studies, which was my first love in academia.  But… I am a student at heart and psychology was calling me…and, I answered that call.

Being in a period of darkness was no excuse to lie to my readers.  I value you…I value your readership, I value how you enrich my own life with your blogs, and I value your friendship.  I want to be my best self, and to do that…I want to strive to live my life with integrity and model that with my actions, not just my words.

I want to thank you for taking the time to read this.

Truly humbled,

nora