When I started this blog my goal was to share what I’ve learned about the SCD and how the diet can heal digestive problems along with a host of related issues, including mental health. I still want to do this.

However, I find it impossible to remain 100 per cent compliant with the SCD. I have come a long way since starting the diet in 2005, but I still have such a long way to go. I subscribe to many SCD blogs, and am always inspired and humbled reading stories of others’ journeys. I don’t feel I am in a position to offer anything inspirational, which is partly why I haven’t published very much; I feel like a fraud espousing a diet I can’t even stick to. I’ve written drafts but can’t bring myself to publish them.

I am married, with three children, and much of what I do is by nature influenced by or influences, these four people. However, as much as I’d like to share about them, I respect their privacy. I read stories by mothers who talk about their children, and again, am grateful for this, but I struggle with the cost/benefit of affecting my kids’ and husband’s privacy.

The bottom line is that I can only really speak about my own experiences; I can only change or improve myself, and I still have such a long way to go. So the focus will be on my stories, my journey, my goals. But I will be tempted, oh how I will be tempted to talk about my kids and husband.

Amongst my friends and family, I am what’s called a high-discloser. I talk a lot about my personal life. I need to keep this in check in my writing. But I have a tendency too, to share my thoughts and opinions on controversial subjects such as mental health, pharmaceuticals, diet, vaccinations, amongst others. And that puts me at risk of ridicule and criticism. That’s OK, I’m open to dialogue. I want to share my research and experiences. I’m developing a thick skin.

The other shortcoming that keeps me from writing is that…I’m not a writer. So many successful blogs are written by people with writing credentials, “a former editor,” “a published writer,” “a poet,” “an English graduate.” I am none of these. My major in university was psychology, and my strengths in high school were math and science. But I’ll write anyway; to communicate, not to be artistic.

So I will continue with Health Against the Grain. I will write about so much more than physical and intestinal health. I will write about mental, dental, emotional, psychological, spiritual, financial, reproductive and other types of health. And I’ll share an eclectic mix of crafts, recipes, books, blogs, discoveries and interesting factoids.

I hope you will check in every once in a while. You can subscribe to email updates (upper right column on posts and home page) or follow me on Facebook. Please leave a comment, I welcome dialogue. I hope that each article I share will help at least one other person. If nothing else, it will help with my mental house cleaning by moving my thoughts from the squirrel cage of my brain onto the global page of the blogosphere.