This Puzzled Life is a mental health and recovery blog exploring addiction, trauma healing, LGBTQ experiences, humor, and the strange moments that shape us.
“Marijuana is proof that plants are smarter than people give them credit for.”
-Unknown
Light the charcoal. Sprinkle the sage. Negative energy go away. Today, I want to tell you about a strain called Tiger’s Blood.
Tiger’s Blood is an indica-dominant hybrid. Many sources trace Tiger’s Blood back to OG Kush genetics. Some product listings suggest it may be bred from Tiger Paw × OG Kush. In the cannabis world, strain genetics can differ between breeders and regional markets. This means that Tiger’sBlood may not have one universally accepted pedigree. And like the snow cone flavoring it’s a mixture of berry tastes.
The top terpenes in this strain are Myrcene, Caryophyllene, Limonene, Pinene, and Linalool. Patients report relief from chronic pain management, muscle relaxation, inflammation relief, stress, anxiety, relaxation, sleep, appetite stimulation, muscle spasms and cramps. This particular strain I’m using in a vape. And I really like it. It’s one that I can use on the go but without the “couch lock.” Thanks for reading! Keep blazin’.
Affirmation: Cannabis helps me slow down, listen inward, and breathe.
Light the charcoal. Sprinkle the sage. Negative energy go away. Today, I want to tell you about a strain called Platinum Kush Breath.
Platinum Kush Breath is a 70/30 indica-dominant hybrid strain. It is a cross between OG Kush x Afghani. OG Kush is a cross between Chemdawg x Lemon Thai x Hindu Kush. Afghani is a pure indica landrace strain found in the Hindu Kush mountains of Afghanistan. I wasn’t able to determine a definitive flavor. But it’s reported flavors of berry, fruity, peppery, spicy, and sweet.
Dominant terpenes are Caryophyllene, Limonene and Linalool. Patients report relief from depression, headaches, migraines, chronic pain, inflammation, cramps, or muscle spasms. Even though this strain’s potency doesn’t hit hard to begin with, it acts very much like a creeper strain. The indica effects were slow but powerful once they settled in. I would say that this strain needs to be used in moderation. Because if your not careful “couch lock” might be upon you. Thanks for reading! Keep blazin.’
Affirmation: I am worthy of health and happiness, and I choose to relax my mind and body.
“Weed is good weed is fine, if you share yours, then I’ll share mine.”
-Unknown
Light the charcoal. Sprinkle the sage. Negative energy go away. Today I want to tell you about a strain that seems to go perfectly in the month of love. It’s name is Red Velvet by Manna.
Red Velvet aka Red Cake is a 60/40 indica-dominant hybrid strain. The genetics are a cross between Lemon Cherry Gelato X Pine Acai. Lemon Cherry Gelato is a cross between Sun Sherbet x GSC (Girls Scout Cookies). Pine Acai lineage states that it’s a collection from unknown balanced hybrids. Gelatos are typically known to have very balanced fruity flowers flavoring. On inhale the Gelato flavoring came through instantly. And for a strain that’s at only 15%, it really packs a powerful punch. And that is why I don’t let percentages determine whether or not I try a particular strain.
Top terpenes include B-Caryophyllene, a-Bisabolol, Linalool. Medical benefits from this strain have been known to help with depression, chronic stress, anxiety, mood swings, chronic pain and chronic fatigue. Leafly Buzz strain May 2022. Thanks for reading! Keep blazin’.
Affirmation: I am sativa happy and indica relaxed.
“What cannot be communicated to the mother cannot be communicated to the self.”
-John Bowlby
Light the charcoal. Sprinkle the sage. Negative energy go away.Some topics require us to slow down, breathe deeper, and open our hearts a little wider. Children of Addiction Awareness is one of those topics that are tender, urgent, and often hidden in plain sight. When we talk about addiction, the conversation usually centers on the person struggling. But in the quiet corners of those stories are children who carry the weight of what they cannot name.
They are not statistics. Not headlines. Not “someone else’s problem.” They are real kids. Real families. Real hearts trying to grow in soil that isn’t always steady. You don’t need a degree or special training to understand this. However, you just need to know this. When addiction lives in a home, children feel it in their bones. Even when they don’t have the words. Even when they pretend everything is fine.
Children growing up in homes affected by addiction often learn to read emotional weather patterns before they learn to read books. They become experts at sensing tension, anticipating conflict, and adjusting themselves to survive unpredictable environments.
They are the kids who:
Tiptoe around moods.
Become caretakers far too young.
Hide their fear behind perfection or silence.
Carry secrets that feel too heavy for their age.
Love their parents fiercely, even when life feels chaotic.
These children are not defined by the addiction around them. But they are shaped by it in ways that deserve understanding, compassion, and support.
Kids who grow up around addiction often learn to:
Stay quiet
Stay small
Stay out of the way
Stay “strong” even when they’re hurting
They become experts at reading moods, hiding feelings, and pretending everything is okay even when it’s not.
Growing up with addiction in the home can create emotional landscapes that are confusing and overwhelming. Many children experience:
Unpredictability: never knowing what version of a parent will appear.
Emotional neglect: not from lack of love, but from addiction’s consuming nature.
Role reversal: becoming the “adult” in the home.
Isolation: believing no one else lives this way.
Hypervigilance: always on alert for the next crisis.
And yet, these same children often develop extraordinary strengths: empathy, intuition, resilience, and emotional intelligence. They learn to survive in ways that would humble most adults.
But survival is different from thriving. Awareness is the bridge between the two. These children don’t need perfect parents. They don’t need someone to “fix” everything. They don’t need pity.
They need:
Consistency
Predictability
A safe adult who listens without judgment
Reassurance that none of this is their fault
Permission to feel their feelings — all of them
Sometimes the most healing words a child can hear are: “You didn’t cause this. You can’t control this. You are not alone.”
Whether you’re a teacher, neighbor, mentor, family member, or simply a caring human, you can make a meaningful difference.
Create safe spaces for conversation.
Model healthy coping skills.
Offer stability and routine.
Validate their emotions.
Connect them to supportive resources.
You don’t need a degree to change a child’s life. You just need to show up consistently, compassionately, and without judgment.
For the parents struggling with addiction, this conversation is not here to shame you. It’s here to remind you that healing is possible for you and for your child. Your effort matters. Your recovery matters. Your presence matters more than perfection ever could. Children don’t need flawless parents. They need honest ones. They need parents who try, who apologize, who grow, who keep coming back to love. Every step you take toward healing is a step toward breaking generational cycles.
Children of Addiction Awareness is not just a month, it’s a movement toward visibility, compassion, and collective responsibility. When we acknowledge these children, we give them language. When we give them language, we give them power. And when we give them power, we give them hope. So, take a breath and hold this truth close: Awareness opens the door. Connection keeps it open. Love walks a child through. Thanks for reading! Keep HOPE alive.
Affirmation: I didn’t cause it, I can’t control it, but I can take care of myself.
“Cannabis doesn’t take you away from reality. It changes how you look at it.”
-Unknown
Light the charcoal. Sprinkle the sage. Negative energy go away. Today, I want to tell you about a strain called Purple Punch.
Purple Punch is an 80/20 indica-dominant hybrid. It is a cross between Larry OG x Grandaddy Purple. Larry OG is a cross between OG Kush x SFV OG (San Fernando Valley). And what powerful strains those genetics are. Grandaddy Purple is a cross between Purple Urkle x Big Bud. All of these genetics are well known historic strains.
The most prominent terpenes in this strain are Myrcene, Caryophyllene, and Pinene. Patients report relief from conditions such as stress, anxiety, insomnia, appetite loss, and body aches. What I can tell you about this strain is that you will feel like you got purple punched. It is a very potent strain as flower. But in this vape cart, it’s not long before you get that punch. I can attest to the above relief from stated conditions. This one will put you out and give you some much needed pain relief.
Please keep in mind that each grow will be different and the flower effects, terpenes and genetics will differ depending on which region of the country that the plant is grown. Thanks for reading! Keep blazin.’
“Some stories break you. Some stories change you. And some stories demand you stand up, speak up, and refuse to look away. Renee Nicole Good deserved to grow old.”
— Dana, This Puzzled Life
Light the charcoal. Sprinkle the sage. Negative energy go away. Today’s story is heavy, holy, and heartbreaking. And it deserves to be told without flinching.
There are moments when the world tilts. Moments when a headline hits you in the chest because you know this isn’t just news. This is someone’s daughter. Someone’s mother. Someone who laughed, cried, loved, lived, and deserved to grow old.
And this time, her name was Renee Nicole Good. She was a 37‑year‑old mother of three who was shot and killed by an ICE agent in Minneapolis on January 7, 2026, as reported by CBS News and NBC News. She was unarmed. She was shot three times including once in the head. And it was the wound that killed her according to the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s report, cited by MPR News.
I didn’t know Renee personally. But I know the shape of injustice. I know the sound of a system cracking under its own weight. I know what it feels like to be trapped in a place where the people with power insist they’re “keeping you safe” while your body tells you otherwise.
When I read about Renee and about how the fatal shot was to her head. And about how the agent claimed “self‑defense,” about how the body‑camera footage released by ICE shows her backing away when the shots were fired. I felt that familiar ache. The one that says, This should not have happened. The one that says, This keeps happening. The one that says, How many more?
The world saw the moment she died. Millions watched the video, replayed it, argued about it. But Renee was more than the last seconds of her life. She was a whole human being. She was a mother. A woman trying to survive. Someone who deserved to be seen in her fullness. And not just her final frame. Another woman gone. Another family shattered. Another official statement claiming “self‑defense,” as reported by The Associated Press. Another community calling bullshit.
I’ve spent enough time in psychiatric, legal, and medical systems to know how quickly institutions protect themselves. How fast the narrative shifts. How easily a person becomes a problem instead of a person. But Renee wasn’t a problem. She was a life.
When I say her name, Renee Nicole Good, I feel the heaviness of it. The way a name becomes a headline. The way a headline becomes a debate. And the way a debate becomes noise. But behind that noise is a family who will never be the same. Children who will grow up with a before and after. A community that will remember the day everything changed.
And I think about how often marginalized people are told to “comply,” “calm down,” “cooperate,” “not escalate,” “not resist,” “not move,” “not breathe wrong.” And still they die. Grief like this doesn’t fade when the headlines do. It lingers. It haunts. It becomes part of the landscape of a community. And it should. Forgetting is how injustice survives.
Renee deserves better than to be forgotten. She deserves better than to be reduced to a political talking point. She deserves better than to be a momentary outrage. She deserves to be remembered as a woman whose life mattered.
When I read that her death was ruled a homicide, even if the system refuses to call it a crime, I felt that familiar sting. The one that says, We see what happened. We just refuse to name it. And when I read that she was unarmed. And that she posed no threat, and that the fatal shot was to her head, I felt the anger rise. Not the wild, chaotic anger. The quiet kind. The kind that sits in your chest like a stone. The kind that says, This is not justice. This is not safety. This is not okay.
I don’t have a neat ending for this. There isn’t one. But I can say this, Renee, your life mattered. Your story matters. Your name will not be swallowed by the noise. To her family, I am holding you in the softest part of my heart. To her children, I hope the world becomes gentler for you than it was for your mother. To her community, keep speaking, keep fighting, keep remembering. And to anyone reading this who feels the weight of it, you’re not imagining it. You’re not overreacting. You’re not alone.
Some stories demand to be told. Some losses demand to be honored. Some names demand to be spoken. Renee Nicole Good. We see you. We remember you. We will not look away. Thanks for reading! And from the bottom of my heart I say, “Fuck ICE!”
Affirmation: I honor Renee by telling the truth, holding the grief, and refusing to let her name fade.
“Eating disorders are so incredibly complex. And they are not about the food.”
-This Puzzled Life
Light the charcoal. Sprinkle the sage. Negative energy go away. Today, I want to talk about something that sits quietly in the corners of so many lives. And it’s also something we don’t talk about nearly enough because it’s wrapped in shame, silence, and misunderstanding. And the topic is eating disorders.
This isn’t just a national awareness week to me. It’s a reminder of how many people walk through the world carrying a pain that no one sees. A reminder that the strongest people you know might be fighting battles with food, with their bodies, with their own reflection. A reminder that healing is possible. But it’s not easy. And it’s never linear.
Eating Disorders are not about vanity. They’re about survival. People love to reduce eating disorders to “wanting to be skinny,” but that’s not the truth. Not even close. Eating disorders often grow out of trauma, anxiety, perfectionism, or the desperate need to feel in control when everything else feels chaotic. They’re coping mechanisms that become cages. They’re ways of surviving will eventually start to suffocate.
And the cruelest part is that most people suffering look “fine” on the outside. They smile. They function. They pretend. They hide. Because the world has taught them that their pain is embarrassing, dramatic, or self‑inflicted.
We Live in a culture that worships self‑punishment.And we’re surrounded by messages that tell us to shrink, restrict, cleanse, detox, earn our food, burn our calories, and hate our bodies until they fit someone else’s idea of “acceptable.” We praise people for losing weight without ever asking if they’re okay. We compliment discipline without knowing it might be self‑destruction.
Awareness means calling out the culture that normalizes harm. It means refusing to participate in conversations that shame our own bodies or anyone else’s. It means unlearning the lies we were raised on.
Recovery isn’t a straight line. It’s not a single moment of clarity or a dramatic breakthrough. It’s a thousand tiny choices. It’s eating when you don’t want to. Resting when your mind screams at you to move. Speaking kindly to yourself when the old voice whispers cruelty.
It’s crying in the grocery store. It’s celebrating the days you nourish yourself without guilt. It’s forgiving yourself when you slip. It’s learning to trust your body again, even when it feels impossible. And recovery is not weakness. It is strength in its purest form.
The person who always says they “already ate.” The friend who jokes about needing to “earn” their dinner. The coworker who never joins for lunch. The family member who avoids mirrors. The person who seems confident but is quietly unraveling inside.
Awareness means choosing compassion over assumptions. It means listening without judgment. It means creating space where people feel safe enough to be honest. If you are struggling,you deserve nourishment, and rest. You deserve a life that isn’t ruled by fear, shame, or numbers. You deserve to feel at home in your body not at war with it.
You are not broken. You are not alone. And you are not defined by the hardest thing you’ve survived.
National Eating Disorders Awareness isn’t just a date. It’s a call to soften. To speak gently. To challenge the toxic norms, we’ve accepted for far too long. To check on the people we love. To check on ourselves. To build a world where bodies are respected, not judged. Where food is nourishment, not punishment. Where healing is celebrated, not hidden.
As someone who has battled with eating disorders for more years than I haven’t, I know what it means to live inside a cycle that feels impossible to break. My struggles were born out of trauma but just like so many of my other survival behaviors and even now, after all this time, the echoes of that pain still follow me.
My body isn’t as depleted or fragile as it once was. But the thoughts haven’t magically disappeared. They still show up every day, whispering the old rules, the old fears, and the old lies. I still avoid eating in front of people whenever I can. I still feel that familiar tightening in my chest when food becomes a spotlight instead of nourishment.
Eating disorders are a quiet trap, consuming, and cruel. They take root in the mind long before they show up in the body. They convince you that you’re in control while slowly taking that control away. They drain you mentally and physically, piece by piece, until you feel like there’s nothing left but the disorder itself. And the hardest part is how invisible it can all be. How easy it is to smile, to function and to pretend. How easy it is for the world to miss the pain entirely.
This isn’t weakness. It’s something that grows out of hurt, out of fear, out of the desperate need to feel safe in a world that hasn’t always been safe. And even though the thoughts still come. Even though the habits still tug at me. I’m here. I’m still fighting. I’m still choosing to stay. That matters more than anyone on the outside will ever understand. Thanks for reading! And reach out for help.
Affirmation: My body is not my enemy. I deserve compassion, nourishment, and peace.
“He was a great cheerleader for the country. But not great on the trade.”
-Donald Trump on Ronald Reagan
Light the charcoal. Sprinkle the sage. Negative energy go away. Now let us continue…
1. “I have a great relationship with the blacks. I’ve always had a great relationship with the blacks.”-Anderson Cooper 360, 7/23/15
Donald has made numerous racists remarks about anyone who isn’t white calling them “animals,” “stone cold killers,” “worst people,” and “The enemy from within.” I don’t know about you, but this sounds a lot like Hitler’s description of the Jews.
2. “Sorry losers and haters, but my I.Q. is one of the highest-and you all know it! Please don’t feel so stupid or insecure, it’s not your fault.”-Twitter, 5/9/13
Ummmm…Donald just because you were able to identify a giraffe, it doesn’t mean that you can draw a clock. He is of very low intelligence.
3. “I won’t do anything to take care of them. I’ll supply funds and she’ll take care of the kids. It’s not like I’m going to be walking the kids down Central Park.”-Howard Stern Interview, 2005.
This quote looks like the common misogyny that his administration and supporters tend to go with. They basically don’t want women to have any rights. And that their place in the world is barefoot and pregnant.
4. “My fingers are long and beautiful, as , it has been well documented, are various other parts of my body.”-New York Post, 2011
Stormy Daniels wrote in her book Full Disclosure about Donald Trump’s penis.
She describes Trump’s penis as “smaller than average” but “not freakishly small.”
“He knows he has an unusual penis,” Daniels writes. “It has a huge mushroom head. Like a toadstool …
“I lay there, annoyed that I was getting &%$#@* by a guy with Yeti pubes and a &%$# like the mushroom character in Mario Kart …
“It may have been the least impressive sex I’d ever had, but clearly, he didn’t share that opinion.”
One thing I personally know about male misogyny is that if you feel the need to project that you have a large “member,” it’s very clear that the individual is describing their ego instead of their penis size. I was married to someone that did the same thing. And he had a very small penis. But I would end my life if I ever thought that I would have to roll around all night with the United States Orange Turd.
5. “We’re rounding ‘em up in very humane way, in a very nice way. And they’re going to be happy because they want to be legalized. And, by the way, I know it doesn’t sound nice. But not everything is nice.” 60 Minute, 2015
There is absolutely nothing humane about the way that ICE is rounding up illegal immigrants and American citizens. And the holding facilities have been described as “deplorable.”
6. The U.S. cannot allow EBOLA-infected people back. People that go to faraway places to help out are great-but must suffer the consequences.”-Twitter 2/19/14
During the 2014-2016 West African Ebola epidemic, a total of two people of African descent with confirmed cases of Ebola came into the US.
8. And let us not forget tariffs that were placed on “Penguin Island.”
The U.S. imposed tariffs on Heard and McDonalds Islands, which are a remote Australian territory near Antarctica inhabited by wildlife but no humans. The only inhabitants are penguins, seals, and seabirds. They have not been visited by a human in nearly 10 years.
9. “You know we’ve cut drug prices by 1,200, 1,300, 1,400, 1,500%. I don’t mean 50%. I mean 14-, 1,500%.”
I think anyone who has had basic math in school understands that one whole item is 100%. However, the idiot in the White House is willing to pay us to go pick up medications. And that has yet to come true.
10. He also proposed a dividend of at least $2,000 per person for individuals below a certain income level, funded by tariff revenue. “We’re taking in so much money that we may very well make a dividend to the people of America.”
I guess maybe those are also lost in the mail and hanging out with our DOGE refund checks. We will receive those in the month of Neveruary.
11. “The line of ‘Make America Great Again,’ the phrase, that was mine, I came up with it about a year ago, and I kept using it, and everybody’s using it, they are all loving it. I don’t know, I guess I should copyright it, maybe I have copyrighted it.”
-MyFox New York, March 2015
“Let’s Make America Great Again” was one of Ronald Reagan’s most well-known campaign slogans. However, the parallels of Hitler surrounding the “stab-in-the-back” myth, blaming Jews, communist, and liberals for Germany’s post-WW1 economic and political distress and promising to purge these “domestic enemies” to renew the nation. That sounds like a large helping of Donald Trump in today’s time.
I cannot make clearer the desperate times in which our country resides. The one thing I always said about being abused by a malignant narcissist is that what you saw wasn’t as bad as when the door closed and everyone disappeared. But then as time went on, he started slipping and his cruelty became overt rather than covert. Donald Trump skipped the covert part. And his cruelty is on center stage for the world to witness. And the more you allow an abuser to get away with more cruelty is by doing nothing about it. And when they begin losing their strong hold, their cruelty will inevitably escalate. America, our time is now! It is time to take down the Trump regime and restore democracy. Thanks for reading!
Affirmation: A blatant lie, the most amazing lie ever.
“The best conversations happen with a little cannabis and a lot of honesty.”
— Unknown
Light the charcoal. Sprinkle the sage. Negative energy go away. Today, as we’re facing 2026 with our horrible administration, what would go great with those discussions with friends and family. We all know that many of us are coffee drinkers. And what better strain to go with the coffee and conversations but a little bit of coffee creamer.
Coffee Creamer is a 70/30 indica-dominant hybrid. It is a cross between Zkittlez x Kush Mints. I immediately tasted the creamy flavoring in this strain.
Top terpenes in this strain are Myrcene, Caryophyllene, and Limonene. Patients report relief from conditions such as stress, anxiety, insomnia, chronic pain, muscle tension, and appetite stimulation. And for me, it helped gently rock me to sleep. And if you’re needing something after a hard day to relax, this strain will do it. Thanks for reading! Keep blazin’.
Affirmation: I deserve relief, peace, and moments of ease.
Light the charcoal. Sprinkle the sage. Negative energy go away. Ok, let’s continue.
1. “The Biden administration had spent $8 million dollars to make mice transgender.”
What he was actually referring to is the term “transgenic mice.” This is a process where scientists add human cells to mice to enable them to more accurately study the effect of disease on human tissues. Not changing the gender.
2. “Show me someone with no ego and I’ll show you a big loser.”-Trump: How To Get Rich, 2004
I think most of the American people can agree that your ego, in conjunction with dementia, narcissistic personality disorder, and the emotional maturity of a toaster, is all the proof that we need to see what the definition of a “big loser” means.
3. “She does have a very nice figure…If Ivanka weren’t my daughter, perhaps I would be dating her.” -The View, 2006
That’s a heck of a thing to say about your daughter, Donald. But I’m sure Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislane Maxwell could verify whether or not you had sexual relations by girls. “Some on the younger side.”
4. “I don’t know if you saw. Little things such as the cost of eggs-little to you, but big to the people out there. Down almost 30%, in the last, eh, few days.” Press conference March 2025.
Actually, prices of everything has continued to rise.
5. “I look at some of these agreements and I say, who would ever sign a thing like this. The tariffs will go forward, yes. We’ll make up a lot of territory. Our country will be liquid and rich again.”
Trump himself signed “those things.” Trump said this in reference to trade deals, specifically those with Mexico and Canada (NAFTA).
6. “These things don’t work, I’ve had them many times, and on occasion, they break, they explode. If something’s hot, they don’t last very long, like a matter of minutes, sometimes a matter of seconds. It’s a ridiculous situation.”
Referring to the dangers of plastic straws. I have used many of this same product. And not one time have they ever exploded.
8. “I never understood wind. You know, I know windmills very much. They’re noisy. They kill the birds. You want to see a bird graveyard? And they say the noise causes cancer.”
I will put going to see a bird graveyard on my bucket list. About the only place you would see this describe scenario is if an entire flock of birds flew into a shredder and they were then called “Shredded Tweet.”
10. “And then I see the disinfectant, where it knocks it out in a minute. One minute. And is there a way we can do something like that, by injection inside or almost a cleaning.”
Trump wondered aloud if injecting disinfectants could be a way to stop Covid. I can tell you that it would be the last time you would ever need to inject bleach.
11. “They start forming off the coast of Africa, as they’re moving across the Atlantic, we drop a bomb inside the eye of the hurricane, and it disrupts it. Why can’t we do that?”
“Put the nuclear codes down and step away from your position of power!”
There is one final blog that is left in this series. If you aren’t paying attention to current politics, you need to. And I’m not talking about immersing yourself in FOXNEWS. Look at more than one source and educate yourself about the horrors that are going on within our country. We are in unprecedented times that I never thought that I would witness. And our very precious and admirable democracy is at stake.
Affirmation: I resolve to seek validation from myself and like-minded individuals, not from those who have harmed me.
This Puzzled Life 