How I Got Here

Welcome to You Can Handle The Truth!  I am so thrilled to finally awaken from my “blogging slumber” (just in time for spring!) to bring you this new blog where the focus will be on finding your truth (and mine as well) while fielding questions from you about life, love, work, cancer, dating, relationships, the first year of marriage, and anything else that’s on your mind!

How it all began:  In 2005, 2 years before my 30^th birthday, as I began to dread the inevitable (I cried when I turned 22, how would I not cry when this big birthday rolled around?!), I began a blog called “Almost 30.”  It started off with my experiences of living in Manhattan and juggling a new found sense of freedom while mending a broken heart, navigating a stressful job as a social worker in an elementary school in East Harlem, and trying to understand how the relationships all around me were changing while friends got hitched and started having kids.  You were with me as I began dating again and found that life as a single gal in NYC was not quite as Sex & the City as I had hoped.  (Thankfully I had an outlet– writing– for my “you wouldn’t believe it unless you were there” experiences, and we found ways to laugh about all of the horrible dates together).  Soon thereafter, in December of 2005, I was diagnosed with ocular melanoma, and the blog became my journey into the world of cancer, and then soon after, of dating with cancer.  Enter “Breathing Under Water: Letting Go to Find Myself.”  It was there that I asked you to travel with me as I recovered from not just the physical ramifications of cancer, but also the emotional aftermath as well.  You saw me finish my cancer treatment, let go of a past relationship that had haunted me for years, move to Boston, fall in love all over again, and get married.  Now my journey is a different one:  One of a cancer survivor (though that word is over used, maybe together we can find a new title) who still faces the “what if?” when it comes to my health, of not dating but of being a wife (More challenges!  More funny stories!  More dispelling the myth of being “rescued” now that I’m hitched!), and of questioning career choices, when to start a family, and where to live.  HUGE life decisions that I know you are either facing or have faced as well, and I’d like to invite you in on the journey with me. 

The other part of this blog (one part would be just so boring) is going to give me a chance to dispense some wisdom (a.k.a. kick-ass advice, I hope).  It’s not therapy, which is what I do for a living, because in therapy we don’t give our clients advice, we merely try to make connections and help sort thoughts and feelings out into something clear and honest so that clients can make the best life choices for themselves (whatever that means to each individual being).  I know what you’re thinking:  How can somebody who is trying to sort through their own journey help others?  Actually, I am here to say that I think it is those that are actively seeking their own truth who can best help others to find theirs as well.  We are all trying to remain works in progress, not get stuck, and to discover the best in ourselves (and in others).  My goal is to combine my educational, professional, and life experiences together with my keen insight and unique understanding of people to help you continue to find your truth.  I want to hear from you!  Some of the questions that I can tackle will certainly involve love, work, relationships and cancer, but feel free to fire other questions right at me and I will do my best to pass along my wisdom to you!  Think of me as your own personal friend, life coach, and HONEST young woman who is here to relate, help, and remind you to laugh as you struggle, accomplish, and balance whatever it is that life is throwing at you in this moment.

One more thing.  I can’t promise that I will always get it right, but I can promise that it will be honest.  I am NOT one of those people who posts pictures and status updates on Facebook of how perfect my life is!  Sure I have my “glory days” and will share the good, for sure.  However, I am REAL and I will give it to you straight– That I can promise you!

I can’t wait to hear from you!

Cheers,

Samantha