MY STORY
Welcome. My name is Laura Palmen (she/her). Born in Minnesota, I now live in the greater Twin Cities area after living in Minneapolis since 18, where I received a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of Minnesota. I came up with the idea of "scaffolding" over a decade ago but only recently have I become brave enough to share.
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My first love was and is music. Music is the closest thing I have to a religion, and, oh, how I do love to worship. This is followed closely by art, writing, food & wine, trail running, puzzle-solving, and other hands-on activities. I'm a do-er—a mover. A perfectionistic, hard-working, dig deep, participate heavily, set people up for success, and put your all into everything you do-er. My motto is "Aim higher. Do Better." Typically shortened to "Do Better."
I was all of that despite some diagnosed and undiagnosed medical conditions and several traumas, which varied the difficulty level of that practice.
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I still am those things described above; only they are buried under layers of rubble. In March 2020, I got COVID-19 which left me with longCOVID, which, in turn, has never left and even progressed severely. I am now working with physicians both from the Mayo Clinic and locally, and we have moved into the treatment phase of my illness, for which I am very grateful.
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I am starting this blog to share my conceptual model of recovery and some of my rehab processes and resiliency practice in the hopes that it may help and/or inspire others in a recovery process of their own. Eventually, I hope to blog about the things I love once I have enough scaffolding and spoons for them to return to my life. No two people's recovery will look the same. Still, I hope by putting into the world this anti-perfectionistic, vulnerability-laden resiliency practice, I will be able to help at least one individual find a little more secure footing on this scrabble mountain known as "recovery" and "life." Of course, I am not a medical professional and cannot give medical advice; all I can do is share with you what I'm trying, what works for me, and what doesn't.
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I recommend you start here, and if you like, here is a little background on my concept of scaffolding which I hope to and am excited to share with you all in much more detail soon.