TRIGGER WARNING: This post deals with an account of domestic violence and may be triggering to some. Growing up, I learned early on how to be aware of the little things that spoke volumes. My mom wasn’t just an alcoholic; she was also bipolar, and I never knew if I’d come home to a mom who was cheerful and…
“Don’t make yourself small for anyone. Be the awkward, funny, intelligent, beautiful little weirdo that you are. Don’t hold back. Weird it out.” ~Unknown You know that moment when you’re mid-conversation, and your brain throws up a flashing neon sign that says, “Abort mission! Abort mission!” Meanwhile, you’re left replaying your words like a bad karaoke performance, cringing at…
“Grief never ends … But it changes. It’s a passage, not a place to stay. Grief is not a sign of weakness, nor a lack of faith. It is the price of love.” ~Unknown “Thank you for letting me know.” The moment I hung up the phone, the tears came. I was confused and caught off guard. Why was I…
“We often block our own blessings because we don’t feel inherently good enough, smart enough, pretty enough, or worthy enough. But you’re worthy because you are born and because you are here. Your being alive makes worthiness your birthright. You alone are enough.” ~Oprah Winfrey When I was a little girl, I loved making cute drawings at school and…
Anyone who knows me well knows that I battled with food and my body for years. I struggled with bulimia for over a decade, starting when I was twelve. My eating disorder was in many ways a coping mechanism in response to trauma, but early programming around food didn’t help. I ate to soothe myself. I ate to stuff…
“This is not where your story ends. It’s simply where it takes a turn you didn’t expect.” ~Cheryl Strayed He had the courage to say what I couldn’t. “It’s not working anymore.” It didn’t make any sense that we were breaking up. We loved each other so much. We had been talking about getting engaged. Our couples therapy was…
“The truth will set you free, but first it will make you miserable.” ~James A. Garfield When the email finally came, it felt like a trap snapping shut. Its words were carefully spun—half-truths and veiled accusations twisted together to shift blame and obscure the real issue. For years, I had brushed off these moments as quirks or misunderstandings. But…
“When you reparent yourself, you can step in and give your inner child the deep love and attention you may not have had when you were young.” ~Victoria Albina Reparenting is not for the faint of heart, but the journey can surely be described as the greatest act of self-love. It’s a gift—a chance to redo some of the…
“Can I sit with suffering, both yours and mine, without trying to make it go away? Can I stay present to the ache of loss or disgrace—disappointment in all its many forms—and let it open me? This is the trick.” ~Pema Chödrön At forty-seven years of age, I have experienced chronic illness in some form since my mid-to-late twenties….
“I can respect any person who can put their ego aside and say, ‘I made a mistake, I apologize, and I’m correcting the behavior.’” ~Sylvester McNutt I remember I was a teenager when I went through this horrible breakup. I had never experienced heartbreak before, and the pain was excruciating, impacting many areas of my life. For years, I…
