I'm a study of inherited family trauma. Memoirist | Francophile. I write about: #Memoir #CNF #PTSD #Scapegoating
Missoula, MT
Joined June 2011
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My memoir is about being the least favorite child. Falling between the cracks was one thing, but it was another thing entirely to perceive a family conspiracy against me. #Memoir #Scapegoat #GenX
Who else is writing memoir out there? Or has written a memoir? What is it about? Would love to connect. #WritingCommunity #memoir #writersupportingwriters
Friendly reminder that it’s OK to feel sad and tired before Mother’s Day. Lonely children often have double-duty: to provide themselves with the maternal love and attention they were denied, and to grieve that absence. 💐
It still surprises when I learn some aspect of my dysfunctional childhood wasn’t the norm for everyone. Kids wrote thank you notes, really?? Not in my family. We kids were raised in hostility and rudeness.
Barbie Beaton retweeted
Retweet if you have ever felt.
-guilty for having mental illness.
-ashamed of having a mental illness.
-like a burden for having a mental illness
Or if you ever felt like you just can’t talk about it, because you,ll be judged or misunderstood.
I understand.
It's with much gratitude and honor that I've been accepted for a November 2025 residency in Auvillar, France. While there, I plan to finish my manuscript about my role as the family scapegoat and why it taught me we are only as happy as our unresolved wounds.
📷: Sophie Beaton
How do you deal with bullies?
A central question in my memoir, but instead of a workplace coup, it was my family.
🚩Study emotional intelligence.🧠
🚩Break the pattern. Bad behavior signals rejection/abandonment/trust issues.
🚩Speak with boundaries intact. "This is not OK."
I hold two opposing beliefs when it comes to writing: 1. I’m not good enough 2. I can do it. This pushes me to study the craft of great writers, to feel dissatisfied with moderation, and to recognize artistry versus ambition. We all have strengths, but weaknesses need work.
You can do all the right things—exercise, eat healthy food, see a therapist, sleep well—and still be overwhelmed by a trigger. It isn’t what you do with PTSD, but what PTSD has done to you. It’s OK to not be OK. Triggers aren’t a result of your incompetence.
Traumaversary is kicking me down today. Ten years ago, and I’m hurting.
#Scapegoat #MentalHealth
I fully support back-to-school for writers:
📕Register for a writing class
📕Plan a writing recess at an outdoor location
📕Take a field trip to the public library
📕 Buy new sneakers
📕 Create a color-coded storyboard for your w-i-p
📕 Pack a treat into your lunch
In dysfunctional families, there is a bunk cost with sacrifice. I stifled my pain for decades, believing I could control the outcome. I couldn’t. I am not proud of my ignorance, but it taught me what I most needed: relief.
No judgment: If you could have as much time as you need with no worries about $, childcare, job, etc, could/would you focus on your mental health using only holistic (drug-free) methods?
Tell me the second-to-last sentence in the final paragraph of the first chapter is good enough. It’s stealing my sanity!!!
CeCe has amazing insight. This class helped me avoid dreaded abstractions— CeCe’s tools for dialogue and action will boost your writing. ✍️ Take this class!!👇
I was 16 and my father told me I couldn’t go gallivanting around the county, sleeping God knows where, with nobody knowing where I was. I took that advice and explored the world on my own, spoke French, and slept in unlikely places, including a phone booth. 🌎