Kayla Jade Photography

I’d be okay to go back to this weather and this weekend right about now 🙃🍂

Let’s talk ptsd and emotional/psychological abuse. Some big signs of emotional abuse are consistent lying, shaming any feelings you have in response to their manipulation, calling you crazy for not trusting dishonesty, denying they ever said/did something even though you have proof/remember it clearly, their actions clearly don’t match their words, or that you’re told you have to be okay with their lying all to avoid any and all accountability. When you’re in an emotionally or psychologically abusive environment you can have varying side effects such as anxiety, hypersensitivity, breaking down easily, and distrust and can start to lose grip on reality. Abuse of any kind is NEVER your fault, you do not deserve it. Try and recognize it for what it is and walk away.
I grew up knowing abuse, of all kinds. Whether experiencing it myself as early as I can remember or witnessing it. I’ve recently learned how your body can hold onto trauma and recognize future abuse by sending off signals, often disguising itself as anxiety before your brain clues in. It’s where we have to learn to trust our gut or initial instincts, they’re rarely wrong. I just got out of a situation I was in for two years where I was shamed and called crazy or difficult for confronting shady behaviours or manipulative tendencies. Where I was made to feel crazy or less than for not trusting somebody that lied to myself and others constantly and told me that I had to be ok with it. I stopped being myself. It wasn’t until it came to a head and everything I had been feeling was validated by the truth, that I saw it for what it was even though this person continued and continues to lie. The red flags and warning signs were always there, but I ignored them. Learn from me and don’t ignore what doesn’t feel right. Just because you can see the best in people does NOT mean you always should or that it’s always there. If something feels off, walk away. It will bring out the worst in you and take a toll on your psyche like you could never believe. Save yourself, do not keep them in your life, you deserve the best and I promise you’ll feel lighter and more like yourself than you ever have before 💛

Banff National Park is one of Canada’s treasures, with landscapes that draw in thousands of people every year. What most don’t know is that it was originally home to many Indigenous populations, including the Stoney Nakoda, Ktunaxa, Tsuut’ina, Kainaiwa, Piikani, Siksika, and Plains Cree. After the creation of the national park in 1887, they believed it best to keep the Stoney Nakoda First Nations in neighbouring reserves and thus excluded from the park. The only times they were invited back into the park was for the “Banff Indian Days” which they kept going well into the 1970s. They would be invited back in solely to put on a show to entertain tourists, where their culture and people were exploited for the entertainment of white people. We have a responsibility as a society and a country to take accountability for the past and current oppression of Indigenous Peoples and to pursue reconciliation of a painful and tragic past. Enjoy the beauty that Banff and the various national parks in Canada have to offer but also take a few minutes (or longer) to educate yourself on the history of the places you’re visiting and the current issues within our society.

My current adventure looks a little different than normal as it does with all of us; using this time to really step back and take an adventure in self growth, reevaluating my life, my choices, and where I want to be ✨ grateful to have had the time to reconnect with old friends, catch up with others, and spend some time taking a step back from my usual crazy busy lifestyle ❣️ hope everybody is staying safe and being smart 🥰