Category: Uncategorized
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How to Tend to Yourself When Being Vulnerable Feels Raw
“Vulnerability is the only path through the wall that separates us from each other.” ~Brené Brown Every time I share something deeply personal—an article, a post, a piece of my story somewhere or to someone—there is a part of me that lights up with energy. I feel a sense of urgency, a pull to share…
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Growing Up Without a Family: From Survival Mode to Thriving
“You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.” ~C. S. Lewis I started life in a poor household with one parent who left when I was very little, never to be seen or heard from again, and another who stuck around but made it…
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Escaping an Abusive Situation: The Hardest Parts and Greatest Lessons
“The wound is the place where the Light enters you.” ~Rumi I watched my son get hit by his father, and something inside me finally broke open. Not broke apart. Broke open. There’s a difference. For years, I had absorbed the chaos. I had made myself smaller, quieter, more accommodating. I had convinced myself that if…
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How I Stopped Overexplaining and Found Calm in Conflict
“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response.” ~Viktor Frankl For a while, I forgot about that space. When conflict entered my life—first with my employer, then with my insurance company—I didn’t react explosively. I didn’t fire off reckless emails. I did something that felt…
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Gratitude: The Amazing Superpower Inside Us All
“When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive—to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.” ~Marcus Aurelius Gratitude. It used to be a very triggering concept for me, and sometimes it still is. It’s been a process to unravel what it means to me and to…
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The Wedding Dress Metaphor: A Powerful Lesson on Being Authentic
“True belonging doesn’t require you to change who you are; it requires you to be who you are.” ~Brené Brown This past year, during a season of transition in my life, I started working part-time as a bridal stylist at a wedding dress store. It was something I had quietly dreamed about for years. I’ve…
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We Are Allowed to Age: Why I Don’t Care That I Look Old
“When there is no enemy within, the enemies outside cannot hurt you.” ~African Proverb It is just past ten in the morning on a Tuesday. My wet boardshorts and blue tank top are drying at lightning speed in the sweltering South Indian sun. I am feeling alive and exhilarated after my surf session in the…
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How Dry January Improved My Brain Health and My Life
“You are not stuck with the brain you have. You can make it better.” ~Dr. Daniel Amen At the beginning of the year, I had this whole list in my head about the benefits of dry January: drop a few pounds, sleep better, get those bright white eyes everyone raves about. The standard results you think you would get…
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Boundaries Begin Within: A Simple Insight That Changed My Life
“I used to tolerate a lot because I didn’t want to lose people. Now I set boundaries because I don’t want to lose myself.” ~Anonymous I used to feel stretched and depleted in my own life, drained by obligations, and confused about why I felt overwhelmed even when everything looked ‘fine.’ At the time, I…
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When Your Kindness Flows Easily to Others but Not to Yourself
“Remember, you have been criticizing yourself for years, and it hasn’t worked. Try approving of yourself and see what happens.” ~Louise L. Hay There it was—glaringly obvious on the page. An embarrassing typo stared back at me from the backside of a brochure I’d received from the printer. A brochure I wrote, laid out, and…