The "Last Resort Girls" and Higher Education.

I am very excited to announce that we have new features coming to PLM within the next week. We will be introducing three new contributors that will be writing and keeping track of their individual journeys through higher education. Chronicling where they are in their life, they range in age from mid twenties to mid thirties, to why they went back, some are incredibly high powered and successful others are entirely switching careers, to what it is really like day to day to handle the stress that many of us know about: balancing a very busy life, schedule, while still trying to fulfill what it is that we want to do and be in this world.

That last statement very much sums up exactly the reason this place exists. When I was younger, where I grew up, the time I grew up in, intelligence, intellectuals, and education was highly valued. It was rewarded strongly and proudly. It was lauded. It was what you strived to be because being the girl in the tight skirt, high shoes, with the big hair and tons of fake eyelashes was strongly looked down upon. It was considered and they were often referred to as "the last resort" or "last resort girls". Those whom have nothing to rely on inside so they have to use what's outside to live life. They don't think any thing inside is worth any value so why not just use their body to get attention, to get what the people who use their intellects have, to get that life. That they can't possibly shine from the inside out so let's flip it and reverse it.

That way of thinking, making the outside shiny while the inside is still dark and empty, has become the norm in our society. It's something I don't believe in, and in fact strongly disagree with. It's also incredibly terrifying because not only is this the norm of our society it's overwhelmingly, 87%, the focus of the country in one way or another and influencing our future generations.

I find twelve year olds wearing VS PINK thongs, push up bras, mini skirts and fake eye lashes while hanging out at a coffee shop to giggle over college boys sad. Go shower, find kids your own age, read a book, play outside and be a kid while you still are one. Where are your parents?! I find the fact that children graduating high school that don't get a joke about Darwinism simply because they don't know "who or what is that Darwin thing you mentioned?" truly heartbreaking, devastating, and horrifying.

Instead of studying authors such as Vidal, Mailer, Tolstoy, Dickens, London, Fitzgerald, Capote, Poe, Faulkner, Morrison, Hawthorne, Hemingway, Twain, McCarthy, Updike, Salinger or Vonnegut in their Literature or English classes they are instead reading books such as the Twilight Series. Most don't even know any thing of the Bronte sisters, why they're so important, what is Wuthering Heights and why it historically matters. Why does Norman Mailer loathe Gore Vidal or most importantly, why did he get drunk then headbutt him before going on national television to debate an op-ed piece? (yes that last chunk is sarcasm and joking even though I would love to get into that conversation one day). Great authors are not just meant to have their work read, they are meant to be studied themselves because as important as their work may be, their influences and the culture around them at the time is just so.

You can make that argument for musicians, artists, any and every form of intellectual expression you choose and you would be right. The problem is, if our children, this countries future, are not being taught this unless their parents push or influence them to go and find it out on their own, to discover the wonder of it all in an incredibly journey themselves, allowing them to realize what makes their own selves shine organically, will we have a future that believes eyeliner analyzing is more important than equal pay for equal work? And how can we stop this self destructive wheel we have created from spinning?

I am hoping that by our contributors sharing their stories through out the course of their experience we may shed light on what turns so many people away from higher education. And possibly shine the light on what could be changed, maybe even help to start the ball rolling to get it changed, so that more people will turn towards higher education. In turn ensuring that every one has that pivotal moment when they realize the multiple ways in which they shine, from the inside out.

Fair Wages, Fair Payment, Fair Employment Environments...And the right to fight back and stand up.

It has recently come to my attention through a personal experience of my own, which I battled with devulging on here or not, that I truly believe a work environment that is safe and free of mental and emotional abuse is becoming more and more predominantly needed. Not only that, but so is the payment of employees for work being done. It seems quite simple. You work the hours. Your time card is submitted. You get paid. No problem right? But did you know that the person who is in charge of signing off on those time cards can say no simply because they want to? And yes, it is illegal. There is even a penalty for every day they choose to do so, for every day they create an environment that is uncomfortable or that you feel you cannot return to the workplace because of this said incident, and they have a specific number of days they MUST by law pay you otherwise they are in fact not just engaging in illegal activity, it's a misdemeanor crime that can cost them their precious little business and all those titles they've worked their whole lives for. *check your state for the individual laws, they can be found at your states labor commission website

You would think most employers wouldn't risk it over some thing petty right? Especially when it's some thing along the lines of, well I want to discuss this and this issue with you. Okay well, can't we do that after you sign my paycheck for the past two weeks when I worked 18 hour days because you forced me to and conveniently don't remember (luckily though I have proof that you did in fact okay and order it). You would think this all wouldn't be worth the trouble. Rectify the problems afterward instead of creating a hostile work environment where you aren't just making one employee feel uncomfortable, chances are, more and more will be rallying behind them every single day and the employer just isn't aware of how bad it really is. They may just think they are the King/Queen of their own world and may do whatever it is they please. Their own Mailer if the headbutt fits. But more and more employers are taking these chances thinking that the employees will simply not do a thing about it.

And in my personal experience? They didn't even acknowledge my response and have yet to direct me personally. And yes, it will most likely go legal in a very ugly way because I am going for not just my full paycheck but for damages caused and money lost for the weeks+ I was unable to work due to their tyrant like qualities. I am giving them, as a company, one last chance to do the right thing before I pull the plug and snap the legal whip, unleashing every possible asset and power play I have including having my Governor, ADA, Labor Commission, BBB, and a massive team of lawyers with documents going back over ten years to back up my claim.

Am I doing this for my money? I want my paycheck. But I also want the employee of this same employer whom was suicidal two days in a row and I had to talk down from literally killing herself, the other employee who had four panic attacks, not anxiety attacks (there is a difference), in less than four hours, that these employers are just simply high school bullies grown up with big titles, bigger pay checks, and even bigger egos and they can not just keep going like this. That you can beat this, you will. That if we all stop taking their bullying and stop just going with it because they sign the check, there will be change. It is almost 2015 and we will not stand for it. I will not stand for it. I refuse to let them think that an emotional and mental nightmare like this, that requires so much medication and doctor attention, without the ability to change jobs because of the market in our location, is how it really is or how it should be. I refuse to let tyrants believe they can or will continue to win. And I refuse to let them think they are some type of powerhouse 'teaching the way of business'. Maybe you were great, twenty years ago. Now you're just mean. And abusive. And I can't find a single redeeming quality about you.

Signed,
The girl that has known you since she was eleven.

CW Note+Origin Story.

CW Note
The following is the newly updated origin story of this corner of the world as well as the world wide web. You will find this always on the right hand side of the domain along with the connect section. Please by all means keep the connections coming! Our staff is diligently working on returning all of the amazing emails we have received. If you wish to contact us all please do, @info@prettylittleminds.com, we do our best to get back to you as quickly as possible. Thank you all for sticking by our side through this transitional phase. While it may not seem like many things have been changing here on the front grounds, many things have been brewing in the backgrounds.

I want to thank the 20+ amazing companies that have been with us since the beginning and I am looking forward to a very bright future working with you for many years to come as well as the incredibly exciting new changes they will be involved with us here at PrettyLittleMinds.
XO CW

Origin Story
I am your daughter, your sister, your mother, your aunt, your grandmother, your best friend, your God mother, your sister in law, your neighbor, your colleague who annoyingly seems to always know how to fix everything on a computer in mere moments when it took you hours (I'm sorry, really, I am just trying to help). I am you. I am a survivor, a fighter, a dreamer, a believer. I love hard, dream large, LIVESTRONG and never regret. I am, in the end human, just like everyone else, with a myriad of chronic complexities that just tag along for one hell of a ride. And what I think, see, feel, dream, do and create…matters. I matter. And so do you regardless of what you may think or feel when you look at yourself time to time…

For some reason everyone thinks they know who I am, what I believe in, what I have done, where I have been, what I have seen, what has happened to me and what hasn't. Well guess what, 85% of you are most likely so completely far off it’s offending to your teachers your brain even works in such deluded ways (no child left behind my ass)- your parents are most likely offended as well. Quite frankly, I am just getting to know me as I, like most people, am constantly changing and evolving. The last few years have been the most evolving I've ever experienced and as difficult as it all has been I am grateful for the lessons it has taught me. It is quite presumptuous of you to assume that you would know me now, right this minute, isn't it? Mistakes be damned, I am who I am and I am proud of whom I am becoming. I deserve to shine, just like each of you, mistakes, missteps, wrong decisions, bad decisions and all.

This space started out as my space, a place for my mind, my thoughts, my dreams, my wishes, my nightmares, my complexities and faults, my worries and heartbreaks, my loves and journeys, my devastations and revelations. Yet I was never really able to do that here. I was never able to become that here. Part due to what has been ongoing in my personal life. Partly because of what I let myself believe and feel. And for that I am sorry. I am sorry for a moment I let myself get distracted by something so small, a speck of dirt on an unwashed floor. But I am not going to kick myself down for it nor will I continue on about it. This place will become a space for love, for healing, for getting things off our chest. I will be posting and sharing things from my personal life as will featured guests as well. These guests will be people I not only look up to in a professional sense but in a spiritual sense, that live with passion, that see life through a specific lens that maybe we all can learn something from, myself included. I am lucky enough to have these people in my life and to share tidbits of their pretty little minds with you.

This place in the world is my creation and I won’t back down from it just because the level of my honesty can sometimes feel like a slap in the face. If you don't like it, don't come back. I am becoming the type of person I have always wanted to be and I will forever hold my ground. I do not crumble simply because some wish me to. Those peoples thoughts like that in fact simply push and drive me further to the top. Thank you for that.

My name is Cody Wilshire. You may have heard of me. You may not. You may think you know me but I promise that you don't. My family doesn't consist fully consist of blood but we'd take a bullet for each other, some of us have...a lot. One thing you should know about me that will never change, I never say die. We never say die.

This pretty little mind is going to keep shining- she’s not done fighting yet, she’s just getting warmed up.

Evolve or Die

The title of this post is something I strongly believe in, completely. And in that spirit, this website will be changing, rapidly adding new features, new and more guest blogger on a wide range of subjects as well as articles, information, recipes, every thing that I believe comes together to make someones life feel fulfilled in ways that many people overlook. Especially people who have chronic diseases, cancer, auto immune conditions or a disability. It's easy to get stuck in a rut and difficult to find a way to pull yourself out. I hope this site will become safe place for you to do just that, escape for awhile.

You will notice many aspects of the website layout itself changing as more information is added along sidebars and in the header and footer daily, even when full posts are not posted. If you are interested in being on the subscribers list to be notified of the new directions and aspects the site will be heading towards please check out the many ways to connect on the right hand side of the blog and contact me using any forms of those platforms that are easiest for you. You can also email me at info@prettylittleminds.com.

Also out of multiple requests I have further enabled the mobile version of the blog. If you have any viewing issues please contact me right away. I look forward to seeing you all soon. Thank you all for your supportive emails that come in daily, I appreciate it immensely! Be kind to one another, keep your head up, and remember that you are always stronger than what you think.

It's high, can't hardly breathe; when your hands let go of me.

Sometimes in life people are brought to us in many ways. I am a firm believer that they are brought to us for one of two reasons, to be with us until our dying breath, or to teach us a lesson and change us in ways we will never be able to fully comprehend until time ticks on without them. While I often pray that the beautiful souls my life is full with are of the former, not the latter, it is not always the case.

Words cannot describe the beautiful, young, inspiring, determined, survivor that was my second heart. Those closest to me know of her simply as SJ. We’ve been to the darkest of dark, to pitch black eternity, to nothing but pain and agony, to nothing but wanting death to end it all, and we fought our way back to the light. And I owe so much of my ability to fight, my ability to move forward still to this day, to what I learned from how we broke the chains surrounding each other and learned to fly.

She openly battled severe depression and bi polar for many years before finally finding happiness and pure joy. She had a smile that could save souls and break hearts in the exact same moment. For every centimeter of pain in her eyes there were two inches of joy. Nobody fought like she did. Nobody loved like she did. Nobody showed me just how much the human body can grow, can flourish, can change…that anything can happen quite like she did. Nobody showed me how much I could change like she did.

She may not have been pure blood but she will always be the strongest family I have ever had. She was taken long before her time, long before she should have, and I still catch my breath hoping that it will be her on the other line of every call when my phone rings even though I know it won’t be. I know I won’t ever feel her arms wrap me up tightly, holding me just moments long enough to tell me it was okay to let go, to breathe, to feel, to not be okay for a moment. She was and has always been my savior and I know she will continue to be my guardian angel, just probably with a much better view.

She believed in hope, in acceptance, in forgiving those who don’t ask for it just for our own sake, in trying, in change, in constantly evolving as a person and constantly striving to become a better one. She believed if we stopped doing that, that’s the moment our soul died. Nothing can cure the aching in my heart, the loss that has been created by her departure but I hope that the changes I am making, the steps I will be taking…I hope I will be making her proud.

She believed in me. It’s one of the last things that she told me. That she never once doubted I would become a beautiful person, overcome my demons, always find my light in the darkness and hold steadfast to my beliefs, that I deserve every ounce of happiness I receive. She told me I should never apologize for taking care of my own. When I told her that she made me better, she laughed and said everything that made me better is because of everything you’ve ever done and sacrificed to save me and help me save myself, everything that made me better is because I have you. Those words will never be forgotten. Either will every laugh, cry, cheer, hug, squeal, snort, slip, tumble, handstand, cliff jump, dance or sleepover. Not a single moment will ever be forgotten.

You will be remembered. This I promise you.
Until my dying day, from the cradle to the grave.

Rest in peace. 1987-2012

We've got to rattle this Ghost Town. This house is falling apart.

Eleanor Roosevelt once said, "One's philosophy is not best expressed in words; it is expressed in the choices one makes... In the long run, we shape our lives and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility".

That's all I have to say about what's happening in my life for right now.

Treatment Playlist for the week of 9/12/2012