Hello, Ally!    Warm welcomes to you! 

My goodness... you're quite a renaissance woman, gal!    Laz is correct that I love the fact that you play acoustic guitar, and I'm impressed as well that you play electric bass and violin!  I have been teaching myself guitar for about six years now; it's slow going, but I do find it simultaneously frustrating and gratifying.  But we can talk more later on that if you like.

You are a kindred spirit to me, as I also have a background in psych... a B.A. in General and an M.S. in Counseling, both from Loyola University, Baltimore.  So, we'll speak a common language.    I don't know ASL, but your goal of working with the deaf sounds fascinating, and hopefully something you'll pursue after you find your footing.  We also have a family member here called Vic; she is a doctoral student in psych. 

Ally... please take your time talking about your self-harm, if and when you want to.  I favor trying to get peeps to understand why they SH and to gradually "outgrow" it, replacing it with behavior that displaces the destructive impulse.  But we can talk about that if and when you like.

We're a tiny family and I hope you don't mind that we're small.  It can be quiet at times, as Laz said, but it's much like any other family.  We are in our sixth year of caring about others.  We have both young people and adults.  Most of the Young Ones have quite literally grown up here and we're very proud of each and all of them.

I don't want to overwhelm you before you even have a chance to look about, but please make yourself at home.  Should you like a journal, I'll prepare one for you; just let me know what you'd like to call it.  And please get to know us at your own pace.  Our rent is paid and there is no hurry.  For my part, I hope to learn as much from you as you learn from me.

Also, we have some other musicians/vocalists here too... Marcel plays guitar, Harmony sings, Connie plays piano and guitar... I view music - whether one listens to it or creates it - as a healing tool.  I hope you find this to be true as well.

Laz... thank you for introducing Ally to us! 

Ally... welcome to our family! 

TC



~ Friends I never met took my hand to steady themselves

with wisdom I thought life had primed me to imbue.
But in truth the privilege was theirs to confer,
young eyes, as pools, reflections of a me I never knew. ~

TC

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