Hi and welcome to "Becoming a Pearl". My name is Megan and this is a blog about my journey through a 11 year battle with an eating disorder (ED) and my journey through recovery. But, I'll start off by explaining the meaning behind the title of this blog, because it has a more significant meaning than just transforming into a thing of beauty. 

Like I said, my name is Megan. I'm a pretty sentimental person. I enjoy finding deep meanings behind things, reminiscing, and I have a bad habit of keeping random unnecessary items just because I have an emotional tie to them. :-) I've also read that the meaning of ones name can say a lot about them. So naturally, I had to know what my name means. What I found is that the name "Megan" means "pearl". At first, I didn't think too much about it, but the more I pondered what a pearl is and how it is formed, the cooler it became to me. I also started to realize how it really did say a lot about my life and who I want to become. See, a pearl is formed in an oyster or mollusk basically by accident. This has a pretty neat tie into my life as well, but I will explain later. As the oyster or mollusk eats, a grain of sand or parasite lodges itself into the body of the oyster/mollusk. This causes a great deal of pain for the host. Since the oyster is unable to get rid of the grain of sand or parasite, it creates a crystalline structure around the intruder to protect itself, essentially a coping mechanism. It continues to put layer upon layer of the crystalline substance around the host until the pearl is extracted from the oyster. Basically, the pearl is created by accident and even though it causes a great deal of pain to its host, it creates something of great beauty, a prized possession around the world.

So, I told you I would explain why the fact that the oyster is created on "accident" has an interesting tie into my life. Well, I am the youngest of 3 and by youngest, I mean youngest by A LOT! Both of my brothers were in high school when I was born and my parents (to my knowledge) were not trying to get pregnant or have another child. Some people might call me an "Oops Baby", but my parents (especially my mom) say I was a "pleasant surprise". 

The story behind how the pearl forms, brings to mind the verse in Isaiah 61:3 that talks about "beauty from ashes". My life has by no means been super hard or filled with loss, trauma, abuse, etc. But, I have had my share of problems, difficulties, disappointments, set backs, and the like. Most of my problems have appeared to be seemingly small (kind of like a grain of sand), but have caused a great deal of pain (to me) being that I have a very sensitive personality. However, I am also a generally positive person and try to find the good in everything. It has been through some of my darkest moments that I have learned and grown the most. And through the pain, through the ashes, I hope and believe that one day a thing of beauty will emerge. 

And like I mentioned earlier, this blog is also a story of my journey through recovery from an ED. This ED has been a source of pain in my life, but it has given me a drive and a passion to help others who suffer from this horrible disease. 

So, that's the meaning behind "Becoming a Pearl". I hope you enjoy!