The Garden of Roses: Stories of Abuse and Healing

A mantra, which is a spiritual practice in Hinduism and Buddhism, is a statement or slogan repeated frequently.  An affirmation, according to the Google dictionary on the internet, is the action or process of affirming something or being affirmed.  To affirm is defined as "to state or assert positively; maintain as true. Mantras and affirmations can be used for healing and coping with all levels of stress, including extreme stress.  There are two ways to use mantras or affirmations: on a daily basis to raise self-esteem and lower overall stress, or to cope with stressful situations on a case-by-case basis. I learned to use mantras to heal myself on a difficult day in the fall of 2008.   I had the ex-husband from hell.  He was constantly requesting parenting time schedule changes, making plans with our children during my parenting time without asking me first, and requesting to take his vacation over my birthday while refusing to make schedule changes for ...

The woman on the bicycle was very angry.  We had only passed her on the Springwater Corridor minutes before when she followed us on her bicycle to give us a piece of her mind. “I just had to tell you, I don’t like being stereotyped.  I am not homeless; I am not like these people.  These people (the homeless) are bad.  So don’t stereotype me.” My daughter and I were walking along the Springwater Corridor, a bike and walking trail along Johnson Creek a hundred yards east of the Cartlandia food truck court off of SE 82nd, on the border between Portland, Oregon, and Clackamas County.  We had passed the woman, resting with her bicycle just a few minutes before.  We had eaten at Cartlandia and then walked to Green Lents food forest at Malden Court.  My daughter is interested in food gardening. There are many homeless encampments along the Springwater Corridor.  Portland mayor, Charlie Hales, formally tolerated them, and the city provided d...