by Michelle Montoro This past summer I decided it was finally time for this 47 year young woman to reclaim my sexuality and enjoy my body and the physical pleasures that it offers me without shame. What good is any kind of pleasure if it is clouded in shame? That…

by Michelle Montoro I have been thinking a lot lately about the idea of overall health and well being. If you search online for the main pillars of health, you will find various articles explaining anywhere from three to eight areas of focus for improving our overall wellness and quality…

by Michelle Montoro I know I am not the only one who feels like I am in a perpetual state of tiredness. I don’t know if it is parenthood, middle age, or just poor sleeping habits. Probably a combination of all of those things and more. Despite my level…

by Michelle Montoro The world is your oyster. Have you ever hear that phrase? It is one that I have carried with me for many, many years. There once was a very influential man in my life…when I was in my mid-twenties. I was going through a divorce. I was…

by Michelle Montoro Coming into the new year, my new favorite soapbox issue is topless freedoms for women. I am jumping on the #FreeTheNipples train a decade after it left the station but definitely not too late to support gender equality and women’s rights to be topless in the same…

by Michelle Montoro I grew up with a very tumultuous relationship with religion. When I was very young, I was forced to attend my mother’s Lutheran church with her every Sunday. I resisted when I could but soon realized that she was going to make me go anyway so I…

by Michelle Montoro Oftentimes, we get stuck in our comfort zones. It’s a natural occurrence and it’s completely understandable to want to stay within the confines of what makes you comfortable. Because, well, it’s comfortable. And who wants to feel uncomfortable? But I have learned that nothing great comes out…

by Michelle Montoro I spent the first 40 years of my life being a “yes” girl. Craving to be popular, to be liked, to become the friend my friends could rely on. Always. To the point that I exhausted myself. Overwhelmed myself. Literally made myself crazy. But I had only…

by Michelle Montoro Twenty-one years ago, I was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder after a lifetime of struggling within the darkness of my own mind. It has been a disturbing history but one that I survived. Through countless hours of therapy, endless cocktails of psychotropic medications, measureless pools of tears, and…