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February 11, 2025February 11, 2025

This Blog Is Archived

This blog, known as Leahpeah at the time, is an archive of my writing from October 19, 2002 through Sept 22, 2022.

I have added my newsletters from Patreon, Dec. 2019-Oct. 2021 and Substack, from Feb. 2024- Feb.2025, all with a “previously posted” at the bottom. My current (and I hope last) newsletter service is Buttondown and you can sign up here.

Many of the older posts have broken image links due to no longer having a Flickr account. Someday, I might have the time to hunt those images down and fix them.

The best way to interact with me now is by joining my community, Blooms in the Garden, where I share daily about my health and creative projects. I’d love to see you there!

March 1, 2024February 12, 2025

It’s March First! Here goes 30 Days of Something

and I’m already mad about it

Hello friends,

This morning I realized it was March 1 and felt surprised, like it had crept up on me somehow, and I’m for sure that that’s not right, given that I had a whole extra day this year to get ready for the end of February. (Leap Day Williams, anyone?)

My new daily habit for March is “move my body,” and as fate would have it, our friend from Atlanta is in town and wanted to meet for an early coffee at a place just around the corner. “Perfect,” I thought, “look how I’m getting a jump on my habit!”

There are two workshops in March: It Starts With You: Repair After Shattering, and Get Your Kinks Out: Planning Kink Scenes: A cheat sheet. I’d love to have you join me. (Sneak peek at what’s coming up later this year right here.)

My partner and I put on jackets, took the elevator downstairs, and I grabbed her hand as we headed out of the building towards the coffee shop. I was instantly confronted with an uphill climb. You might not know that this past year I’ve lost a little more ability in my left knee. I’ve acquired a “very cool, robust” walking stick that kind of looks like a ski pole. It’s meant for hiking, but I use it for city walking knee support up/down stairs and hills, except today, because I left it at home. And then the coffee shop wasn’t where I had imagined it was – it was further up the incline. So by the time we got there, I was out of breath and in pain, feeling grumbly about my ability to walk, and totally annoyed I’d forgotten my very cool, totally virile, not-cane.

So this is day one. I’m almost done being mad.

I know moving my body every day will increase my ability to move my body every day. Know what I mean? The inertia to get the ball rolling is hardest in the beginning, and I’m feeling every bit of that today.

Activation Energy is defined as “the minimum amount of energy needed to activate or energize molecules or atoms so that they can undergo a chemical reaction or transformation.” I’m trying to find my activation energy, probably to the least degree possible, to create the beginning of the change I’m hoping to see.

We’re wired to lean towards doing things that make us feel good (brain chemical reward), secure (security system activation), and comfortable (combination of both).

We’re wired to lean towards doing things that make us feel good (brain chemical reward), secure (security system activation), and comfortable (combination of both). That means, in order to make changes a reality, we have to be aware and override some really big and important survival systems in ways we don’t usually think about.

Homeostasis, the state your body is continually trying to reach and maintain, feels threatened when we introduce new ideas and habits. Homeostasis has many jobs, like maintaining body temperature, how fast or slow your metabolism is, and other survival functions. Doing new things is going to disrupt your micro-molecular neurophysiological thermostat, aka homeostasis. You’re going to get strong impulses to just sit down and return to “normal.”

Doing your new habit at the same time every day will help your brain start to expect the change and be more open to it, keeping the activation energy needed to incorporate a new habit to a minimum. Keeping the time down to 10 minutes or less will “trick” your brain into believing it’s possible and not too big of a disruption.

30 Days of Anything Rules:

Choose one new thing that fits in your life without (too much) disruption

Make a plan to do it, and try to do it at the same time every day for max ten minutes

Choose a reward for after you succeed

Know anyone who might want to join us? Thanks for sharing! Everyone is welcome.

February 27, 2024February 12, 2025

Welcome to Edgy, Wholesome + 30 Days of Anything

Here goes nothing/everything

Hello friends,

Welcome to Edgy, Wholesome, a substack newsletter series by me, your favorite edgy yet wholesome Mentor slash Pro Dom. A substack newsletter, which at this very moment, is a newborn babe with the scent of warm, yeasty bread, fresh from the oven. Delicious! Thank you for being here.

There are two workshops coming up in March: It Starts With You: Repair After Shattering, and Get Your Kinks Out: Planning Kink Scenes: A cheat sheet. I’d love to have you join me. (Sneak peek at what’s coming up later this year right here.)

I’ve been mentoring for fourteen years and a Pro Dom for six. In that time I’ve tried a lot of things with a lot of clients to help them break self-care into bite-sized pieces, making our work much more likely to have a long-lasting impact on their lives (and the lives of those around them). Over the years, there’s been one concept that has stuck out as a clear winner in creating forward movement in someone’s life.

Let me introduce you to 30 Days of Anything, which we’ll be starting on March 1, 2024. The concept is simple – do something, anything, for 30 days in a row. The trick is making that thing accessible and sustainable, both super important ingredients to the recipe we’re crafting. I’ve seen this concept change so many people’s lives for the better!

Watch out for making it too complicated or big. We’re in a marathon, not a sprint. Sure, you can prove to yourself that you can do something for 30 days in a row, but if that thing has displaced other important things like sleep or time for yourself and you’re “just making it work to get to the end,” then you’re maybe going to succeed at doing that thing for 30 days, but it isn’t likely to stick with you long-term. What you did was an endurance test and proved that you can do something hard, which, hey – I’m not knocking that in and of itself. Building strength that way can be beneficial. But, that’s not what I’m talking about here.

The goal of 30 Days of Anything is to add in one helpful thing that you’re missing – one habit that could be helpful to your daily flow or your mental health or how you treat your body and then commit to doing it for the entire month. Drink a glass of water when you first wake up. Stretch for ten minutes before you get in bed. Put your dirty clothes in the hamper at the end of every day. Set a ten minute timer when you begin to scroll social media. Take a photo every day of something in a theme, like the color red or flowers or patterns. Take your vitamins at lunch. Go through the mail and throw out the junk immediately into the recycling. Spend ten minutes learning a new language. Make eye contact with yourself in the mirror and say, I love you! Try a new crafty thing or a sport and be joyously bad at it when you start.

The last piece of the challenge is to pick a reward. Rewards need to be something you’re truly looking forward to that are also sustainable. Taking a cruise isn’t something that most people can do often. But taking a weekend afternoon to yourself to people watch or pick up a hobby for a day that you’ve been missing or going to a restaurant you’ve been wanting to try or basically anything you look forward to that isn’t too expensive and doesn’t take too much effort or time to accomplish, is perfect. Remember, we’re going for sustainability right now and we want some nearly-instant gratification. (We’ll get to bigger challenges and rewards in a few months!)

30 Days of Anything Rules:

Choose one new thing that fits in your life without (too much) disruption
Make a plan to do it, and try to do it at the same time every day for max ten minutes
Choose a reward for after you succeed

That’s it! Make it easy, make is simple. The magic that happens will surprise you. Our brains love rituals, routines, learning new things, and establishing new habits. We also love rewards, especially after doing a challenge. You will be promoting neuroplasticity in your brain, making it possible for you to be more open to other new ideas in your life, giving you a wider perspective on life in general, and also improving your memory and mood.

As for me, I’m going to choose body movement for the month of March. Ten minutes of moving my body on purpose, even if it’s just stretching on the floor. My reward is going to be a dinner out with one of my favorite people during the first week of April.

Want to join me? Sign up for the Edgy, Wholesome newsletter and (about) every week you’ll get some words of encouragement to cheer you on your way. Everyone is welcome. I’d love to hear what you’re choosing. Please leave a comment with the new habit you’re embracing for March and what your reward will be!

Upgrade to the paid version if you’d like some accountability opportunities, more support, and to hear details from my own process.

Here are some ideas that I’ve used with clients in the past:

Drink a glass of water
Stretch for ten minutes
Clothes in the hamper
Ten minute timer for social media
Take a photo in a theme
Take your vitamins
Throw out junk mail
Learn a new language
New craft
New sport
Gratitude log
Make your bed
Deep breathing
Morning/Bedtime routine
Brush/floss teeth
Read from a paper book
Eat a veggie
Push up/planks
Go outside
Plan your day
Express love to someone
Clean an area

Thanks for reading! Hope to see you. xoLeoh

About

My name is Leoh Blooms (he/they/she).

I’m a mentor, writer, and artist who is passionate about learning, sharing, and empowering others to live their best lives. My mentoring focuses on intimacy, mental health, gender, sex, and practical self-care. I help clients understand where these major components of life converge and how our responses to them impact our ability to feel joy. I use a variety of healing modalities in my mentoring practice with clients including energy work*, practical self-care, mind/body connection, and trauma/emotional processing. I’m a retired Pro Dom and no longer accept full-support D/s clients.

As a trauma-informed energy practitioner*, certified Holistic Health Coach, and mental health advocate, I hold the journey my clients are navigating as sacred. I am committed to cultural humility and recognize how white supremacy, institutionalized racism, and injustice impact the body/mind and contribute to illness in many forms. I stand behind equity and try daily to do less harm than the day before.

As one of the first bloggers (Over 22 years of writing can be found right here.) to speak openly about mental health online in 2002, it was a privilege to pave the way for deeper and more open conversations about mental health and stigma impact. Being asked by Diablo Cody to be a consultant on the Showtime series, United States of Tara, where (a highly fictionalize version of) my life was used as a springboard for the main character was a transformative moment. I truly felt the importance of my voice and experience.

I use writing and painting as healing arts and encourage my clients to find and blend modalities that work for them. Weaving nurture and care of others in mentoring, along with my writing and art, fills me with joy.

My writing (mostly under my legal name, Leah Peterson) is available here and my art can be viewed here. You can watch videos of me talking about working with clients here.

xo,
Leoh Blooms

*My relationship with being a Reiki Master has changed over the years. While I do use my own personal type of energy work in my practice with clients, which includes what I learned in my time training to become a Reiki Master, I no longer give attunements to others. I became passionate about Reiki when I believed my family genealogy included indigenous peoples. The Reiki Master I learned from had lineage that was similar to what I believed at the time was my own, along with Japanese lineage and training. That family myth has since been disproven via genetic testing. I’m made of 99.7% colonizer bloodlines and as such, have no claim to be a Reiki Master or spirit worker. I refuse to knowingly contribute to the harm done to other cultures by white colonization and spiritual bypassing.

August 25, 2011

Overheard. (in my living room (because I was saying it))

“What’s your plan for today?”
“Oh my heck, I’m SO constipated. I really need to get things moving in there.”
“…”
“Like, really badly.”
“So…pooping? That’s your plan?”
“I thought I’d try wearing your grandmother’s ring on my right hand instead of my left…..?”
“You’ve got a big day ahead of you.”

Something Sweet

Thank You For Reserving Time With Me

Hello! Thank you for reserving some time!

You’ll get an email from me in the next 24 hours with some available time slots. If you have questions, I’ll be happy to answer them then. If you need to contact me urgently, you can email me here.

I’ve got some free tools and a fun BDSM quiz if you’d like to play in the meantime. Have you checked out the workshops?

I can’t wait to meet you!

Photography

I shoot with a Canon 30D and a variety of lenses but my favorite is a Sigma 50mm f/1.4 EX DG HSM Lens.
I’ll be your SecondShooter, baby. Email me. (Rates: $40/hr if I do no processing and hand off RAWs to you.)
You can also find me on Instagram as leah7peah.

Writing

I write stuff.

I have essays in some books – Things I Learned About My Dad, True Mom Confessions
I wrote a Health & Wellness book called Heal Something Good which is on Amazon and also on its own website here.
I do Ghostwriting. Ask for my current rate.
I have a piece about Tara on HuffPo, May, 2010.
I self-published my memoir.
I have interviews in magazines and books – CRAFT, JPG, LAB, FRAY
I have written on the internet – Blogher, RealMental.org, CoolMomPicks, TryHandmade, Huffington Post, LAMP Host

You can see the full list below –

Article: He Kept Saying, “Just Stop. You’re Ruining Everything.”
Blogher
Post date: July 01, 2015

Article: Is Your Free Webmail Secure? (Or, maybe dump Yahoo before they dump you…)
LAMP Host
Post date: June 20, 2013

Article: Nuvia Crisol Guerra, Civil Disobedience
Union Tribune
Post date: March 13, 2012

Article: Perry Vasquez, More Real Than Life
Union Tribune
Post date: March 7, 2012

Article: Alexander Jarman, More Real Than Life
Union Tribune
Post date: March 6, 2012

Consultant: The United States of Tara series for Dreamworks, created by Steven Spielberg, written by Diablo Cody
Showtime, Season 3, 2011; Season 2, 2010; Season 1, 2009

Interview: Justice Fergie On Race and Blogging
Leahpeah.com
Post Date: Sept 28, 2011

Interview: Mocha Momma / Kelly Wickham On Race and Education
Leahpeah.com
Post Date: Sept 13, 2011

Essay: Mismatched Boots
Huffington Post.com/
Post Date: May 21, 2010

Essay: Different Than I Thought: True Mom Confessions: Real Moms Get Real, edited by Romi Lassally of Truu Confessions
Print Date: April 7, 2009

Guest Post: How to Keep Close Ties with Teens and Tweens
Work it, Mom!
Post Date: Feb. 17, 2008

Interview: Stormtroopers in Love with Red and Jonny.
Fray, Issue 2, Print Date: Dec., 2008

Interview: Going Under.
Fray, Issue 1, Print Date: Dec., 2007

Essay: Finding My Father: Things I Learned About My Dad in Therapy, edited by Heather Armstrong of Dooce.com.
Print Date: May 1, 2008

DIY Article with Photos: Make Your Own Candles
Craft Magazine, Print Date: June/July 2007

Interview: Natalie Zee Drieu from Craft Magazine Blog
LAB Magazine, Print Date: March 2007

Interview: Michael “Nick” Nichols from National Geographic
JPG Magazine, Issue 9, Print Date: March 2007

Associate Editor: Issue 8
JPG Magazine, Print Date: Feb/March 2007

Column: Melissa Summers: Not (So) Afraid Anymore and a Whole Lot Wiser
Huffington Post, Post Date: February 2, 2007
huffington-post fearlessness melissa-summers leahpeah leahpeterson

Interview: JenB from JenandTonic.ca
Leahpeah Interviews, Post Date: January 8, 2007
blogger-interview profile blogging mental-health jenb jenandtonic

Interview: Meg Hourihan from Megnut.com
Leahpeah Interviews, Post Date: January 2, 2007
blogger-interview profile blogging sustainability eat-local food meg-hourihan megnut

Interview: Rebecca Blood from RebeccaBlood.net
Leahpeah Interviews, Post Date: December 7, 2006
blogger-interview profile sustainability blogging ethics rebecca-blood

Column: Teaching Fearlessness to My Daughter
Huffington Post, Post Date: November 14, 2006
column huffington-post leahpeah leahpeterson fearlessness

Interview: Kristen Chase from Motherhood Uncensored
Leahpeah Interviews, Post Date: November 7, 2006
blogger-interview profile blogging pregnancy in-laws kristen-chase

Column: “Feminist” Is An Eight-Letter Word: Talking with Gloria Steinem
Huffington Post, Post Date: September 13, 2006
column huffington-post gloria-steinem leahpeah leahpeterson fearlessness

Interview: Brandon Rogers from One Child Left Behind
Leahpeah Interviews, Post Date: September 12, 2006
blogger-interview profile blogging brandon-rogers

Interview: Anil Dash from AnilDash.com
Leahpeah Interviews, Post Date: September 7, 2006
blogger-interview profile blogging anil-dash technology six-apart

Interview: Derek Powazek from 8020Publishing.com
Leahpeah Interviews, Post Date: July 17, 2006
blogger-interview profile blogging derek-powazek technology writing publishing 8020-publishing jpg-magazine

Interview: Laid Off Dad from Laid Off Dad
Leahpeah Interviews, Post Date: July 10, 2006
blogger-interview profile blogging laid-off-dad

Interview: Amanda Brumfield from Very Zen
Leahpeah Interviews, Post Date: July 3, 2006
blogger-interview profile blogging amanda-brumfield katrina mental-health

Interview: Pierre Kim from Metro Dad
Leahpeah Interviews, Post Date: June 26, 2006
blogger-interview profile blogging pierre-kim metro-dad grammar

Interview: Jason Scott from Textfiles.com
Leahpeah Interviews, Post Date: June 19, 2006
blogger-interview profile technology documentary bbs get-lamp arcade wikipedia jason-scott ascii textfiles

Interview: Jason Kottke from Kottke.org
Leahpeah Interviews, Post Date: May 31, 2006
blogger-interview profile blogging jason-kottke technology

Interview: Morphing Into Mama from Morphing Into Mama
Leahpeah Interviews, Post Date: May 15, 2006
blogger-interview profile blogging morphing-into-mama

Interview: Sarah Brown from QueSeraSera.org
Leahpeah Interviews, Post Date: May 2, 2006
blogger-interview profile blogging sarah-brown cringe

Interview: Brian and Erin Byrne from Byrneunit.com
Leahpeah Interviews, Post Date: April 24, 2006
blogger-interview profile blogging byrneunit brian-byrne erin-byrne reality-tv

Interview: Megan Reardon of NotMartha.org
Leahpeah Interviews, Post Date: April 18, 2006
blogger-interview profile blogging megan-reardon not-martha crafty

Interview: Christopher Monks from UtterWonder.com
Leahpeah Interviews, Post Date: April 10, 2006
blogger-interview profile blogging christopher-monks utter-wonder letters-to-star-jones

Interview: Melissa Summers from SuburbanBliss.net
Leahpeah Interviews, Post Date: April 2, 2006
blogger-interview profile blogging melissa-summers suburban-bliss blogging-baby postpartum-depression

Interview: Schmutzie from Milk Money or Not, Here I Come
Leahpeah Interviews, Post Date: March 27, 2006
blogger-interview profile blogging schmutzie gender mental-health

Interview: Fluid Pudding from FluidPudding.com
Leahpeah Interviews, Post Date: March 20, 2006
blogger-interview profile blogging fluid-pudding

Interview: Alice Bradley from Finslippy
Leahpeah Interviews, Post Date: February 13, 2006
blogger-interview profile blogging alice-bradley finslippy depression

Interview: David Sasaki from El-Oso.net
Leahpeah Interviews, Post Date: February 9, 2006
blogger-interview profile blogging david-sasaki global-voices el-oso

Interview: Tracey Gaughran-Perez from Sweetney.com
Leahpeah Interviews, Post Date: February 6, 2006
blogger-interview profile blogging tracey-gaughran-perez sweetney blogher

Interview: Mimi Smartypants from Mimi Smartypants
Leahpeah Interviews, Post Date: February 2, 2006
blogger-interview profile blogging mimi-smartypants

Interview: Jon Armstrong from Blurbomat.com
Leahpeah Interviews, Post Date: January 31, 2006
blogger-interview profile blogging jon-armstrong blurbomat swim-herschel-swim mental-illness

Interview: Heather Champ from HChamp.com
Leahpeah Interviews, Post Date: January 5, 2006
blogger-interview profile blogging heather-champ hchamp photography mirror-project jpg-magazine

Interview: Eden Kennedy from Fussy.org
Leahpeah Interviews, Post Date: December 12, 2005
blogger-interview profile blogging eden-kennedy fussy t-shirts

Interview: Jeannette Walls
The Glass Castle
Leahpeah Interviews, Post Date: May 5, 2005
author-interview jeannette-walls glass-castle msnbc-the-scoop leahpeah leahpeterson

Interview: Julie Jackson from Snarky Malarkey
Leahpeah Interviews, Post Date: October 28, 2004
blogger-interview profile blogging julie-jackson subversive-cross-stitch snarky-malarkey

Interview: Joelle Reeder
San Diego Blog, Post Date: October 10, 2004
blogger-interview profile blogging joelle-reeder interviewing-san-diego moxie san-diego-blog leahpeah leahpeterson

Interview: Heather Armstrong from Dooce.com
Leahpeah Interviews, Post Date: October 7, 2004
blogger-interview profile blogging dooced dooce mormonism postpartum-depression heather-armstrong

Interview: Chuck Hartley from HowlingPoint.net
San Diego Blog, Post Date: July 21, 2004
blogger-interview profile blogging chuck-hartley howling-point interviewing-san-diego san-diego-blog leahpeah leahpeterson

Interview: Mikey from Electricbugaloo.com
San Diego Blog, Post Date: July 18, 2004
blogger-interview profile electricbugaloo interviewing-san-diego san-diego-blog leahpeah leahpeterson

Interview: Brian Dear from BrianStorms.com
San Diego Blog, Post Date: June 24, 2004
blogger-interview profile brian-storms brian-dear interviewing-san-diego san-diego-blog leahpeah leahpeterson

Interview: Matt Haughey from A Whole Lotta Nothing.org
Leahpeah Interviews, Post Date: June 2, 2004
blogger-interview profile blogging matt-haughey a-whole-lotta-nothing metafilter creative-commons technology

Interview: Emese Gaal
Leahpeah Interviews, Post Date: May 25, 2004
blogger-interview profile blogging emese-gaal photography

Interview: Margaret Berry from MightyGirl.net
Leahpeah Interviews, Post Date: May 18, 2004
blogger-interview profile blogging maggie-mason margaret-berry mighty-girl the-morning-news

Interview: Andy Behrman from ElectroBoy.com
Writer’s Monthly, Post Date: May 6, 2004
author-interview profile andy-behrman electroboy leahpeah leahpeterson

Interview: Matthew Baldwin from DefectiveYeti.com
Leahpeah Interviews, Post Date: May 2, 2004
blogger-interview profile blogging matthew-baldwin the-morning-news defective-yeti

Interview: Laurie Notaro from Idiot Girls Action-Adventure Club Books
Writer’s Monthly, Post Date: April 7, 2004
author-interview profile laurie-notaro idiot-girls leahpeah leahpeterson

Interview: Carl Nelson
Writer’s Monthly, Post Date: February 3, 2004
author-interview profile carl-a-nelson secret-players leahpeah leahpeterson

Column: Good Food, Bad Food
Writer’s Monthly, Post Date: February, 2004
column writers-monthly words-overheard leahpeah leahpeterson

Column: The Joys of Puking at 30,000 Feet
Writer’s Monthly, Post Date: January, 2004
column writers-monthly words-overheard leahpeah leahpeterson

Column: Cell Phone Protocol — For You
Writer’s Monthly, Post Date: December, 2003
column writers-monthly words-overheard leahpeah leahpeterson

Column: When I Became a Madam
Writer’s Monthly, Post Date: November, 2003
column writers-monthly words-overheard leahpeah leahpeterson

Column: Crab Salad With Creamy Crap
Writer’s Monthly, Post Date: October, 2003
column writers-monthly words-overheard leahpeah leahpeterson

Column: Dude, Like, Duh
Writer’s Monthly, Post Date: September, 2003
column writers-monthly words-overheard leahpeah leahpeterson

Column: False Advertising
Writer’s Monthly, Post Date: August, 2003
column writers-monthly words-overheard leahpeah leahpeterson

Column: Lucky Stars, Bad Signs and Planets in Retrograde
Writer’s Monthly, Post Date: July, 2003
column writers-monthly words-overheard leahpeah leahpeterson

Column: Spoonvivor
Writer’s Monthly, Post Date: June, 2003
column writers-monthly words-overheard leahpeah leahpeterson

Column: Undressing
Writer’s Monthly, Post Date: May, 2003
column writers-monthly words-overheard leahpeah leahpeterson

Category: Uncategorized