--- title: Blog (3) description: Read stories about my journey with careers, motherhood, and mental health. (3) --- [![Rowena Winkler logo](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/hs-fs/hubfs/New-Project-4.png?width=937&height=618&name=New-Project-4.png "Rowena Winkler logo")](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/) Open main menu Close main menu - [Home](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/) - About Open the submenu - [Meet Rowena](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/about-rowena) - [Press](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/press) - [Partnerships](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/partnerships) - [Merch](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/merch) - Services Open the submenu - [Career Coaching](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/career-coaching) - [Astrology](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/astrology) - [Coaching Bundles](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/coaching-bundles) - Community Open the submenu - [Masterclasses](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/masterclasses) - [Free Resources](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/resources) - [Blog](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/blog) Open the submenu - [Letters from My Postpartum Psychosis](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/letters-from-my-postpartum-psychosis) # Blog Select Category mother motherhood anxiety mental health mental illness postpartum postpartum psychosis postpartum support international mindfulness reflection Lindsay Mack Sheppard Pratt academia birthday career change career pivot evolution family fertility issues infertility leaving academia theater 8 affirmations career coaching dancing fertility clinic loss magic manifestation meditation musical theater new years goals numerology pregnancy rituals seasons spoken word tarot yoga CBT DBT Haloperidol Trazodone akathisia alignment art therapy astrology authentic alignment authentically aligned messaging authenticity avatar: the last airbender breakthrough cancer communication communication student community building creativity day hospital death delusions employee spotlight entrepreneurship fall father hallucinations highly sensitive person integration intention setting intern internship intuitive marketing leo season lion's gate portal marketing messaging music therapy new moon new year oracle cards parenting partial hospitalization program postpartum psychosis recovery recovery reframing spiritual awakening storytelling team member introduction tedx tedx talk university of maryland virgo season ![](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/41731736_10101664722899009_8669679176770387968_o-e1537020500660-2.jpg) ### [What Happens When Beetles Teach You Life Lessons](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/blog/2018/09/15/what-happens-when-beetles-teach-you-life-lessons) *As I looked up from my journal, I noticed something moving on the ground.* [Dr. Rowena Briones Winkler](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/blog/author/dr-rowena-briones-winkler) [Read More](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/blog/2018/09/15/what-happens-when-beetles-teach-you-life-lessons) ![](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/itikitikmoves-1.png) [musical theater,](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/blog/tag/musical-theater) [theater,](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/blog/tag/theater) [dancing,](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/blog/tag/dancing) [anxiety](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/blog/tag/anxiety) ### [How to Face Anxiety Through Choreography](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/blog/2018/08/19/how-to-face-anxiety-through-choreography) Last weekend, [Artistic Synergy of Baltimore (ASoB)](http://www.artistic-synergy.net/) wrapped up its children’s production of “You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown” (YAGMCB), where I proudly served as choreographer. But first, I have a little secret I wanted to disclose before I get into the experience: [Dr. Rowena Briones Winkler](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/blog/author/dr-rowena-briones-winkler) [Read More](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/blog/2018/08/19/how-to-face-anxiety-through-choreography) ![](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/img_6582-2.jpg) [career pivot,](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/blog/tag/career-pivot) [academia,](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/blog/tag/academia) [leaving academia,](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/blog/tag/leaving-academia) [mindfulness,](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/blog/tag/mindfulness) [reflection](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/blog/tag/reflection) ### [This is What Happens When You Live Right Now](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/blog/2018/08/11/this-is-what-happens-when-you-live-right-now) This past week I went to DC after work to visit my academic friends who were in town for the [AEJMC national conference](http://www.aejmc.org/). [Dr. Rowena Briones Winkler](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/blog/author/dr-rowena-briones-winkler) [Read More](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/blog/2018/08/11/this-is-what-happens-when-you-live-right-now) ![](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/img_3217-2.jpg) [theater](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/blog/tag/theater) ### [Theater Review: Moulin Rouge the Musical](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/blog/2018/07/26/theater-review-moulin-rouge-the-musical) When I saw that *Moulin Rouge the Musical* was premiering in Boston at the Emerson Colonial Theatre, I jumped on the opportunity and bought tickets to surprise my husband as a belated birthday/pre-wedding anniversary present (we sang “Come What May”in our wedding ceremony). And once I found out that Aaron Tveit was playing Christian, I was practically giddy in anticipation of our road trip driving up I-95 to see the show. However, once the show was over, I’m sad to say that we were both disappointed with how the musical version of this movie was presented. [Dr. Rowena Briones Winkler](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/blog/author/dr-rowena-briones-winkler) [Read More](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/blog/2018/07/26/theater-review-moulin-rouge-the-musical) ![](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/sunshine-2.jpg) [career,](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/blog/tag/career) [career change](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/blog/tag/career-change) ### [New Job, New Adventure: Stepping Out of My Comfort Zone and Out of Academia](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/blog/2017/05/30/new-job-new-adventure) As you can probably guess from the title of this post, I have some news to share: [Dr. Rowena Briones Winkler](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/blog/author/dr-rowena-briones-winkler) [Read More](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/blog/2017/05/30/new-job-new-adventure) ![](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/cp-17-nine-marquee_fa.jpg) [musical theater,](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/blog/tag/musical-theater) [theater](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/blog/tag/theater) ### [A Love Letter to Nine the Musical](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/blog/2017/05/02/nine) Those of you who follow me on social media (and who have chatted with me in person!) know that I just finished up a 5-week run of the musical [Nine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nine_(musical)) at [The Colonial Players](http://thecolonialplayers.org/index.php) in Annapolis. [Dr. Rowena Briones Winkler](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/blog/author/dr-rowena-briones-winkler) [Read More](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/blog/2017/05/02/nine) ![](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/17310871_10101150770748239_1657828931_o-1.jpg) [birthday,](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/blog/tag/birthday) [dancing,](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/blog/tag/dancing) [meditation,](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/blog/tag/meditation) [anxiety,](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/blog/tag/anxiety) [mindfulness,](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/blog/tag/mindfulness) [yoga](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/blog/tag/yoga) ### [Birthday Reflections: This Is Me Moving Forward](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/blog/2017/03/16/birthday-reflections-this-is-me-moving-forward) ## Today is my 31st birthday. For those of you that know me well, you’re probably waiting for a month-long series of events with various activities in different locations. [Dr. Rowena Briones Winkler](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/blog/author/dr-rowena-briones-winkler) [Read More](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/blog/2017/03/16/birthday-reflections-this-is-me-moving-forward) ![](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/writers-resist-memphis-2.jpg) [new years goals](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/blog/tag/new-years-goals) ### [My Word of 2017](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/blog/2017/01/31/my-word-of-2017) # Happy New Year all! At UMD I ran into an old friend who reminded me of my previous blog posts where I would encapsulate my hopes for the coming year in one word. I was able to consistently do this practice in [2010 (Achievement)](https://rowenasreverb.wordpress.com/2010/12/30/2010-achievement/), [2011 (Renewal)](https://rowenasreverb.wordpress.com/2011/12/22/one-word-for-2011/), and [2012 (Destiny)](https://rowenasreverb.wordpress.com/2011/12/31/my-2012-word/). I suppose after that I fulfilled my destiny of spreading myself too thin in my first years as an assistant professor (if you’re confused [you can read more about what I mean here](https://rowenawinkler.com/2016/01/06/hiding-behind-the-rockstar-glasses-confessions-of-an-overwhelmed-overachieving-academic/)) because I haven’t done that practice since. [Dr. Rowena Briones Winkler](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/blog/author/dr-rowena-briones-winkler) [Read More](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/blog/2017/01/31/my-word-of-2017) ![](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/img_2357-4.jpg) [spoken word,](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/blog/tag/spoken-word) [family,](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/blog/tag/family) [loss](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/blog/tag/loss) ### [Lessons Learned from Missing Dad: Year 3 Edition](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/blog/2016/10/08/lessons-learned-from-missing-dad-year-3-edition) ### Today is October 7th. Three years ago, I was getting ready to teach a social media class at my first “real job” post-graduate school at Virginia Commonwealth University when my sister called. [Dr. Rowena Briones Winkler](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/blog/author/dr-rowena-briones-winkler) [Read More](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/blog/2016/10/08/lessons-learned-from-missing-dad-year-3-edition) ![](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/img_9249_hd_original-1.jpg) [spoken word,](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/blog/tag/spoken-word) [birthday](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/blog/tag/birthday) ### [My 30th Birthday Gifts To You](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/blog/2016/03/16/my-30th-birthday-gifts-to-you) ### **It is now 12:30 a.m. on March 16th.** ### **30 years ago I was born at Albert Einstein Medical Center in Philly.** ### **Today is my birthday.** I’ve decided to do something a little different today. After watching [the movie Happy](http://www.thehappymovie.com/)(which was recommended to me by one of my students, thanks [John](https://twitter.com/jawnsween)!), I realized that it is in the act of giving that we derive much happiness. So, in the spirit of today, I decided to do some giving of my own on a more interesting scale: [Dr. Rowena Briones Winkler](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/blog/author/dr-rowena-briones-winkler) [Read More](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/blog/2016/03/16/my-30th-birthday-gifts-to-you) [1](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/blog) [2](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/blog/page/2) [3](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/blog/page/3) [4](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/blog/page/4) #### About - [Press](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/press) - [Theater Portfolio](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/theater-portfolio) - [Resources](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/resources) #### Services - [Coaching](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/career-coaching) - [Academia](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/academia) - [Astrology](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/astrology) #### Blog - [Postpartum Psychosis](https://www.rowenawinkler.com/letters-from-my-postpartum-psychosis) - [Leaving Academia](https://blog.rowenawinkler.com/blog/2019/06/15/a-confession-letter-to-the-academy) - [Infertility](https://blog.rowenawinkler.com/blog/2019/05/13/striving-for-motherhood-a-struggle-revealed) ### Sign Up for Updates