Ilana Estelle is a mental health and wellbeing advocate who combines educational insight with her personal experience of living with physical, mental, and emotional disabilities.
She holds diplomas in Counselling, Diet and Nutrition, Nutritional Therapy, Psychotherapy and Counselling, and Stress Management. Through her writing, Ilana supports others in navigating their emotional, mental, and physical health challenges.
In addition to writing for The CP Diary, her work has appeared in healthy lifestyle magazines.
Ilana is also the author of three books: Cerebral Palsy: A Story – Finding the Calm After the Storm, Spirituality, Healing and Me, and Survival: The Covid Years – Time for Change.
Food for thought: "I never write to disappear and escape. The truth is exactly the opposite. Most people strike me as escaping and disappearing in one way or another - into their jobs, their daily routines, their delusions about ...
Something inspirational: “Anyone can learn to fight. Hardly anyone learns to think.” TAMSYN MUIR, Gideon the Ninth Muir's quote reminds us that fighting is not just about physical strength; it can mean arguing, resisting ...
Food for thought: “All that you touch You Change. All that you Change Changes you.” OCTAVIA E. BUTLER, Parable of the Sower This quote reminds us that everything we do has an impact, and every experience changes ...
This quote brings to mind, how I promised myself that I wasn't going to become the kind of parent my parents were. I believe I have succeeded for the most part. Some things that were ingrained in me are hard to shake off.
Also, growing up, my siblings and I were ashamed of being considered "too Mexican" like our parents. Now I think that was dumb.
There's no shame in being from whatever race, as long as we don't forget we all come from the same human race.
Thanks Maria. We often look back at the way we've been parented and learn how not to do things our parents have done, particularly if we don't agree with the way they've parented us.
As children, we're either okay with our roots and upbringing, or we're embarrassed by those things, particularly because of things like peer pressure, our environment and society as a whole.
Once we become adults though, we tend to become more sensible about things and usually understand a lot more and as a result will become less embarrassed by things like our roots and upbringing.
Please don't be too hard on yourself. What you experienced wasn't dumb; the feelings you had were real, but as is often the case we grow through our experiences and just become 'okay with things,' and that includes our roots.
I remember this quote in the movie. The daughter wanted to be like the family that her mother cleaned for, but when her mother confronted her, realised that she belonged in the 'world' the family lived in.
I think many of us strive to be different from our parents or at least different from the way our parents think and in recognising the need for change that is a positive thing, like Maria says.
It is negative when we want to be different for selfish reasons, such as being ashamed of who we are and where we come from; like the daughter in the movie was, although when her mother talked her through her behaviour, she completely understood and changed.
In the context of the quote, I think perhaps more of us should learn to aspire and embrace other people who are kind, caring and compassionate, instead of bringing ourselves down to someone else's level just to fit in with their less than favourable behaviour.
I really don't believe there's anything wrong with that.
You can definitely tell that this quote came from a mother to a child.
If I remember correctly, in the movie, the daughter was a bit ashamed that her mom was a housekeeper. Everyone in her school were from families with ample means except her. My mom was a housekeeper when I was growing up.
A very noble job. I remember thinking that I loved my mom because she was helping someone organize and clean their house. The family loved my mom and that to me spoke a lot, to what kind of person my mother is. I always wanted to be like her in that people loved her everywhere she went to work.
I am lucky to say that is exactly what has happened to me, everyone at work liked me and missed me terribly when I left.
Thanks Maria. You're absolutely right about the movie. Yes it doesn't matter what job any parent does, we should always be proud of them, of our roots and our family, instead of being embarrassed about them.
Although I don't agree with it myself and you clearly don't, children are often embarrassed by their parents and what they do. I remember a conversation with a friend who implied she had no idea what her father did and yet she knew exactly what he did!
I always believe though that with the right foundations in place, children will always go back to their roots.
This quote brings to mind, how I promised myself that I wasn't going to become the kind of parent my parents were. I believe I have succeeded for the most part. Some things that were ingrained in me are hard to shake off.
Also, growing up, my siblings and I were ashamed of being considered "too Mexican" like our parents. Now I think that was dumb.
There's no shame in being from whatever race, as long as we don't forget we all come from the same human race.
Thanks Maria. We often look back at the way we've been parented and learn how not to do things our parents have done, particularly if we don't agree with the way they've parented us.
As children, we're either okay with our roots and upbringing, or we're embarrassed by those things, particularly because of things like peer pressure, our environment and society as a whole.
Once we become adults though, we tend to become more sensible about things and usually understand a lot more and as a result will become less embarrassed by things like our roots and upbringing.
Please don't be too hard on yourself. What you experienced wasn't dumb; the feelings you had were real, but as is often the case we grow through our experiences and just become 'okay with things,' and that includes our roots.
I remember this quote in the movie. The daughter wanted to be like the family that her mother cleaned for, but when her mother confronted her, realised that she belonged in the 'world' the family lived in.
I think many of us strive to be different from our parents or at least different from the way our parents think and in recognising the need for change that is a positive thing, like Maria says.
It is negative when we want to be different for selfish reasons, such as being ashamed of who we are and where we come from; like the daughter in the movie was, although when her mother talked her through her behaviour, she completely understood and changed.
I chose this quote because I liked its values.
In the context of the quote, I think perhaps more of us should learn to aspire and embrace other people who are kind, caring and compassionate, instead of bringing ourselves down to someone else's level just to fit in with their less than favourable behaviour.
I really don't believe there's anything wrong with that.
You can definitely tell that this quote came from a mother to a child.
If I remember correctly, in the movie, the daughter was a bit ashamed that her mom was a housekeeper. Everyone in her school were from families with ample means except her. My mom was a housekeeper when I was growing up.
A very noble job. I remember thinking that I loved my mom because she was helping someone organize and clean their house. The family loved my mom and that to me spoke a lot, to what kind of person my mother is. I always wanted to be like her in that people loved her everywhere she went to work.
I am lucky to say that is exactly what has happened to me, everyone at work liked me and missed me terribly when I left.
Thanks Maria. You're absolutely right about the movie. Yes it doesn't matter what job any parent does, we should always be proud of them, of our roots and our family, instead of being embarrassed about them.
Although I don't agree with it myself and you clearly don't, children are often embarrassed by their parents and what they do. I remember a conversation with a friend who implied she had no idea what her father did and yet she knew exactly what he did!
I always believe though that with the right foundations in place, children will always go back to their roots.