It's been 18 months since I last posted something...

My life has been a whirl wind of sadness and luckily blissful happiness.

My son is now 4 and a half years old and he is still teaching me that this world is an amazing place. Magically perfect, blissfully comforting and amazingly awesome.

My mind still works like a gumball machine. Oddly my son thinks that is the best part of me. I still speak my mind, I have over come my shyness and I have conquered my fears of being rejected. I realized that I am awesome, smart and actually kind of pretty. Well, I have my moments.

My gran is still with me, I cant let go, to this day I still dream of her almost every night.

I have discovered cooking to be my talent, finally I have arrived!

I have discover cooking, dance and love to be one and the same thing.

You start with throwing a few things in (an idea of what you want, and inkling of what you think, a pinch of an imagination and an entire soulful passion of the end result) , then you get a whiff of whats coming, so you combine a few few extra ingredients, moving with the taste, the feel, the rhythm. You start heating up, feeling the magic happening, almost tasting the end result. And as you built up, you start to see the smell, see the rhythm, see the passion, you feel the heartbeat, every breath you take, all the aroma of your surroundings, moving as one, building up to make this beautiful ending.

And then you explode into this blissful numbness and extacy of what you just created. Its bearing your soul to the world and realizing that your soul is woven in to this absolutely amazing entity we call living...

I have arrived ... I am important, special, beautiful and smart even if my dustcover is a little torn...

Hi everyone! I decided to join this support group since I found nothing like it in my country.

" It's been 18 months since I last posted something...

My life has been a whirl wind of sadness and luckily blissful happiness.

My son is now 4 and a half years old and he is still teaching me that this world is an amazing place. Magically perfect, blissfully comforting and amazingly awesome.

My mind still works like a gumball machine. Oddly my son thinks that is the best part of me. I still speak my mind, I have over come my shyness and I have conquered my fears of being rejected. I realized that I am awesome, smart and actually kind of pretty. Well, I have my moments.

My gran is still with me, I cant let go, to this day I still dream of her almost every night.

I have discovered cooking to be my talent, finally I have arrived!

I have discover cooking, dance and love to be one and the same thing.

You start with throwing a few things in (an idea of what you want, and inkling of what you think, a pinch of an imagination and an entire soulful passion of the end result) , then you get a whiff of whats coming, so you combine a few few extra ingredients, moving with the taste, the feel, the rhythm. You start heating up, feeling the magic happening, almost tasting the end result. And as you built up, you start to see the smell, see the rhythm, see the passion, you feel the heartbeat, every breath you take, all the aroma of your surroundings, moving as one, building up to make this beautiful ending.

And then you explode into this blissful numbness and extacy of what you just created. Its bearing your soul to the world and realizing that your soul is woven in to this absolutely amazing entity we call living...

I have arrived ... I am important, special, beautiful and smart even if my dustcover is a little torn... "

I love your optimism and poetic insight.

I've been realizing myself lately how important it is to enjoy life. I've recently become a fan of classical music, which helps me get into an appreciative mood.

Thank you Jon, I also enjoy classical music with a twist. I love it when they incorporate classical with new age stuffs.

What do you enjoy?

I actually got into to it because of a mind-body exercise I read about in a book called The Possible Human. You just relax and try to imagine the music playing itself through you and see if you can pick up any kind of sensations like sight, touch, even smell or taste ("synesthesia"). Recently I found out it works a lot better if I meditate for about ten minutes first. It helps me get into a positive mood when I don't feel like getting out of bed or otherwise being proactive.

I like Beethoven's symphonies. No. 2 is my favorite. I've also been dabbling in Mozart, Bach and some jazz music. I also really like "Rhapsody in Blue" by George Gershwin.

What kind of cooking do you like to do?

My specialty is breakfasts, stews and roasts. My favorite type is cooking Italian. There is just so much flavor in Italian cuisine.

I found that cooking difficult dishes a lot more cathartic. That's how I "meditate". And I nail everything the first time, except rice, lmao, for the life of me I cannot cook rice. The powers that be knows how much I've tried.

Beethoven is wonderful, Vanessa Mae did a cover of No 5 with a modern day twist, just the way I like it. But I have to admit Symphony No9 is my favorite. I cant say that i have an infinity for Mozart. I do love Chopin and Vivaldi's work a lot. Oh and Debussy and Liszt.

Jazz is pretty, not something I listen to often, I just played Rhapsody in Blue, and I have to admit that was awesome!

What else do you like Jon?

I can make things taste good if I try, but I don't usually put that much work into it. The bane of my existence right now is trying to boil eggs properly...

What else do I enjoy? Well..
1) graphic novels
2) exercising while listening to music, podcasts or audiobooks
3) learning about science
4) songwriting
5) history and biography (if they're done well)

Depends on how you like your eggs on how long it takes to cook them. I personally don't eat eggs, but I make them perfect almost every time, especially poached (the way its supposed to be poached, not the lazy ass way).

What is your favorite graphic novel? I love all things Marvel, except the Punisher and Spiderman.

I don't do any exercise, but having a 4 and half year old is basically my whole gym experience, so technically I do the whole gym thing at least 6 hours a day, lol

I've never actually listened to audio books, I read a lot of books every month all shapes and sizes, but can't say I'm a fan of autobiographies.

Science you say? That is very interesting. I'm def not adapt to the sciences, but I do have at least a little knowledge about it.

@ Miller: he is pretty much the best at winding people up ;)

The 5 things that make me happy:
1. My family
2. My kids (students - I teach art)
3. My good buddies (only a few but they are special)
4. Chinese takeout
5. Some good mellow out music

My favorite graphic novel used to be Watchmen, but I think I read it so many times I need to take a good long break before I can go back and appreciate it again. I was not a fan of the movie, nor any of Zack Snyder's films. I have stubbornly refused to see Man of Steel after being let down / borderline offended by everything else he has made.

I'm not sure what the genre would be called for the comics I like. Speculative fiction, maybe. I don't mind a decent superhero story but I don't focus on them. Most of my favorite titles are published through DC's Vertigo imprint. Fables is probably my favorite ongoing series. The writing is genius.

I guess I'm not really into so much either history or biography as much as the intersection between the two; learning about history by trying to put yourself into the heads of the players, both great and small. It's kind of a new interest, actually, ever since a friend got me hooked on the podcast Hardcore History.

As for science... I wish I understood things like chemistry, biology, math and physics better. Lately I have been learning more about the history of computers. I'm trying to learn a little bit of programming too.

Well, if you want a lesson in biology Jon, I'm your girl! I might not know a lot about chemistry, math or physics, but biology is def one of my strong points.

I cannot say I'm all for DC, for me they suck balls (not in a good way). I watched the first few Superman movies, but I found them tedious. I did like the adaption of the Smallville series, but after the first 3 seasons it turns into a Soap Opera. As do most series. They really should put a limit on how many seasons a series should have. (Oh, I'm a series junkie, can't sleep without it droning in the background).

As for autobiographies, you should read: a Long walk to freedom, by Nelson Mandela. Now that is a man of substance. And it is filled with a lot of history in my opinion.

I did see the Man of Steel, which left me with the thought, I could have cooked a great meal in that 2 hours.

How I would love to have a proper conversation with you Jon, I think I could learn a lot from you...

1. My morning coffee especially on an early morning. I like to sit and drink it slowly while I look thru my newsfeed on fb. My son is usually still asleep so I relish the quiet time.

2. I love when ppl surprise me in a positive way by proving me wrong about a negative assumption I had. For example, when someone shows me that ppl r not all the same.

3. Having my son cuddle up w me, hug me and tell me he loves me. It's the most beautiful feeling.

4. Physical intimacy--cuddling, caressing, etc. It's like I can feel the person's energy flowing and mixing w my own.

5. Spicy food any and all kinds

I like playing videogames, watching movies and listening to music.
I listen to music from many different styles.I'm in college. Next year is going the second year of the four need to obtain my degree in journalism. I love to study and I will be studying to get a degree in law as soon as I finish this one. I apologize for any grammatical mistakes. I'm Brazilian and I most of what I know about english I had to learn by myself. Now, I'm through an english course in college but I still pronounce and write some words in the wrong way. I actually created a support group for people with cleft lip and palate here in Brazil but it seems that people still don't like to talk about it. Or they aren't ready, I don't know for sure...

@Guillerme: You sound like heck of a student, Guillerme. Your grammar and spelling is probably better than the average American, by the way. It's a great advantage to know what you want in your education, in your life. I have been toying with the idea of seeking a law degree myself. There is a joint program at my university where I can get a Master's in Social Work together with a law degree.

@KimiF: You are fond of biology, that is interesting since you say chemistry is NOT one of your subjects, I'm guessing molecular biology is not your area. What about evolutionary biology, or zoology? One book that got me interested in the subject was The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins. One pleasant surprise was how much time he spends in that book talking about why Social Darwinism does NOT naturally follow from evolutionary theory, and how our higher human capacities can and should be used to manage the excesses of our baser impulses. I think it's an important idea in relation to cleft and other stigmatized physical conditions.

Soo.. when you imply that some of the comics you like suck balls-in-a-good-way, you mean they're so bad they're good, right? Otherwise, I think we might be reading two very different types of comic books ;)

I think TV has evolved as a medium way beyond what it was when I was growing up. Anytime a new Game of Thrones season gets released I binge-watch it as soon as possible. I tried making my way through Breaking Bad but haven't managed to get through the third season yet. It is so tense and dark real life gets dreary enough, why do I want to subject myself to stories where nothing good ever works out for the characters? (although some people have lately pointed out to me that this is a common theme in any plotline involving drugs.) I also like the first few seasons of Community a lot. Other than that, I don't watch much television. The same goes for movies, although I did become a fan of the Hunger Games series recently.

I'm flattered you think you could learn things from me. Sometimes I feel like I am just full of hot air. You have interesting things to say yourself. As a matter of fact, when I recently commented on this thread I had been thinking to myself: "Why is the DailyStrength cleft forum so quiet lately? Maybe it's because we tend to wait for somebody to post about their problems to give them advice or encouragement. Maybe we focus too much on how cleft is a problem for us and strategies to "deal" with it. Maybe if we focused on celebrating life more, then the forum might become more active again -- which is what drew me into it in the first place."

And then I saw your post here, Being Me, and how many responses it had and your latest update, and I realized some people had been pursuing that line of thinking all along, so I joined in