Lisbeth Siren

Welcome to my little corner of the internet on X. 👋 I am a Catholic 46-year-old woman who chose to return to school in my 40s. I am a quintuple major studying Classics (with a focus in Latin), Catholic Studies, Civic and Economic Thought and Leadership, Counseling and Applied Psychological Sciences, and Art Therapy. My goal is to become a Catholic trauma therapist and clinical psychologist. I plan to apply to a dual master’s program in theology and counseling and eventually hope to obtain PhDs in moral theology and clinical psychology. You’ll generally find me reading, writing, studying, or antiquing and thrifting, and I almost always have some sort of tea in my hand. I am an artist, small business owner, writer (mainly poetry, lyrics, and short stories), singer, herbalist, devoted Catholic, and I share about all of the above. Just a warning: I ignore DMs, immediately block perverts, weirdos, and bots, and I don’t waste my time arguing with people who get upset on the internet

@RalphAJacob @EstellaByTheSea Yes! Right now I’m mostly reposting art history, poetry, fine art stuff but I’ll eventually begin posting my own art, poetry, and journaling projects as I progress in my Art Therapy studies.

@ToLiveInBloom @EstellaByTheSea Didn't realize you also have a page dedicated to art. I will check it out.

School is out and I am preparing for my Art Therapy + Art History degrees which means I am posting over on my creative account more often: @EstellaByTheSea

St. Isidore, patron saint of farmers and rural communities, pray for us!

Activist: "Your cows are putting carbon into the atmosphere." Farmer: "Where did they get it?" Activist: "What?" Farmer: "The carbon. Where did the cow get it before it put it anywhere." Activist: "From... eating?" Farmer: "From eating grass. And where did the grass get it." Activist: "The soil?" Farmer: "The air. The grass pulled it out of the air last spring. The cow ate the grass. The cow breathed some of it back out. It went back into the air it came from." Activist: "But it's still going into the atmosphere." Farmer: "It's going back. There's a difference between a thing going somewhere and a thing going back. You've described a circle and you're frightened of it." Activist: "Then just don't have the cow." Farmer: "The grass still dies in autumn. It rots where it falls. The carbon goes back into the air either way, just without anyone getting fed in the middle." Activist: "It's not that simple." Farmer: "It's grass, cow, breath, grass. Or it's grass, rot, air, grass. Same circle, fewer dinners. If that's complicated for you I'd stay away from the water cycle. That one's got clouds in it."

Deus Vult — “God Wills It”

“The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it” -Flannery O’Connor

@HellRaz0r1776 Hahaha

When you and your goat find bread freaking hilarious

@GPAIndiana I love this

You really understand grandkids when you've got two... and realize real quick, one is not like the other. One of them sits nicely, uses their manners, and could probably host a tea party for royalty without breaking a sweat. The other one? I'm pretty sure if I turned my back for five minutes, they'd reorganize the house, the dog, and possibly my entire belief system. One says, "Grandma/Grandpa, may I please have a cookie?" The other is already eating it... and negotiating tor two more. I love them both the same-but let's just say one of them came with an instruction manual... and the other one came with a warning label. 😂❤️

@Fascinate_Hist Gorgeous

Dear Algorithm, Please send this 1907 Pomegranate Door to everyone who enjoys: Beauty, History, Art, Architecture, Elegance, Craftsmanship, Doors, Travel, Adventure, Gardens, Nature.

Bishop Robert Barron’s seven-hour course: Thomas Aquinas, is available now. In this course, @BishopBarron guides us through a study of the theological and philosophical system of Thomas Aquinas, the 13th-century Dominican friar who masterfully synthesized Ancient Greek philosophy with Christian doctrine. We examine his Five Ways for demonstrating God's existence, his understanding of divine attributes and the Trinity, and his teachings on creation, providence, and the problem of evil. The course delves into Aquinas's philosophical anthropology, particularly the relationship between body and soul and humanity's creation in God's image. We conclude by studying his ethical framework centered on finding happiness in God as humanity's ultimate goal, and the role of virtues in ordering human life toward God.

@MikhailaFuller @iatrogenicaware @ompsychiatrist So glad you are doing this.

@ompsychiatrist Again, here’s a list of 40 years of studies for doctors who can’t research - prescribed-harm.com

Lobotomies were savage brain mutilation with zero trials that wrecked lives forever. SSRIs have 500+ proper RCTs actually helping millions. Comparing them is peak ignorant fearmongering that scares depressed people from treatment. Get a grip, please.

This guy is too cool!! vice.com/en/article/col…

@javeedsukhera So true! I had a bad reaction to Cipro and the doctor looked at me like I was crazy and that couldn’t possibly be true.

One of the clearest signs of character in medicine is how someone responds to the possibility that they may have caused harm despite good intentions. Good doctors are willing to face complexity without protecting their ego at the expense of the people they serve.

Nothing in the sphere of human achievement has more permanence than activities in accordance with virtue. – Aristotle (Nicomachean Ethics)

St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle

I’ve decided to add an additional degree in Conflict Resolution because I would like to go into mediation. It makes sense on multiple levels. We own a forensic accounting firm that offers litigation support, so mediation complements that work beautifully. It also aligns naturally with my path toward becoming a therapist.

"The true university of today is a collection of books." Thomas Carlyle

This is the largest monastic library on Earth. It’s hidden in an Austrian mountain valley and is believed to have inspired the design of the iconic library in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, but you’ve probably never even heard of it... Completed in 1776 within the Benedictine monastery Admont Abbey, the library was designed by architect Josef Hueber as the intellectual crown of the abbey. It is 70 metres long, lit by 48 windows, and lined with white-and-gold bookcases that hold 70,000 volumes. Across the entire abbey, the collection runs to roughly 200,000 books and 1,400 medieval manuscripts. Hueber designed the room to embody the philosophy of his era. "Like our understanding, spaces too should be filled with light," he said. The walls are white. The shelves are gilded. Sunlight pours through the windows and reflects off the gold leaf until the entire hall seems to glow from inside. The ceiling holds seven frescoes painted by Bartolomeo Altomonte in the summers of 1775 and 1776. He was almost eighty years old. Each fresco depicts a stage of human understanding, beginning with the sciences and rising, dome by dome, toward Divine Revelation in the central cupola. In 1865, a fire tore through the monastery. It destroyed the church, the dormitories, the workshops, almost everything. But the library survived untouched. Two and a half centuries after it was completed, it is still called the eighth wonder of the world... -- -- -- If you enjoyed this, I write a weekly newsletter read by over 50,000 people who love rediscovering the beauty of the past. You can join us here: James-lucas.com/welcome If you'd like to support my work, a paid subscription is what makes it possible.

I was speaking with a colleague today, a Catholic psychotherapist, and she said something that is 100% spot on: The true therapy is developing virtue. This is also the foundation of my work as a life coach, because healing is not merely about feeling better in the moment. It is about becoming the kind of person who can live well, love well, choose well, and remain anchored in the good. It is about rightly ordering our desires and our lives. Not because mental illness is fake, suffering is always solved by “trying harder,” or therapy and support are unnecessary. But because so much of what torments the human person is intensified by a soul that has not been formed in truth, order, courage, restraint, and peace. We live in a culture where adolescents, emerging adults, and ordinary people are being formed by mass media, celebrity culture, authority figures who spread messages of moral relativism and nihilism, and a culture that is itself in desperate need of healing. Even with more access to mental health support, and with psychological language woven into everyday culture, mental health struggles are rising across the board. People are anxious, unhappy, and starved for purpose and meaning. Our culture obviously needs help. So where do we start? I believe we begin by helping people grow in virtue. By exposing young people to the humanities and liberal arts education. Through faith and revelation. Anxiety is answered by trust, fortitude, and surrender to God. Overthinking is answered by prudence, learning to judge rightly, act when action is needed, and release what is not ours to control. Despair is met by hope, the refusal to believe that darkness has the final word. Emotional reactivity is steadied by temperance and meekness, not suppression, but mastery of the self. People-pleasing is healed through courage and justice, the willingness to tell the truth, set boundaries, and give others what is due without betraying oneself. Resentment is confronted by forgiveness and charity. Envy is purified by gratitude. Self-loathing is corrected by humility rightly understood, seeing oneself truthfully as neither god nor garbage, but as a creature made in the image of God. Impulsivity is disciplined by self-control. Isolation is challenged by love, friendship, and fidelity. Meaninglessness is answered by faith, purpose, and devotion to the good. Virtue does not make a person emotionless. It makes a person free. Free from being ruled by every fear, every craving, every passing mood, and every lie that distorts perception and destroys peace. The goal of healing is not merely symptom management. It is the formation of a whole person. This is why virtue belongs at the very center of any serious conversation about human flourishing.

If anyone is interested in the history and current state of sacred architecture, I recommend subscribing to this channel. @mythodiumarchitects?si=BpEPmBgGw0NZheQZ" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">youtube.com/@mythodiumarch…