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“The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.” ~Alan Watts I must admit, dear reader, that I wasn’t always a fan of change—not even a little. I wouldn’t say I entered this world naturally inclined toward new or unfamiliar things. Like many…

“You can’t heal what you won’t allow yourself to feel.” ~Unknown I used to act strong all the time. On the outside, I looked like I had it all together. I was competent, composed, and capable. I was the one other people came to for advice or support. The stickiness was that my version of…

“Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.” ~Martin Luther King Jr. My grandmother passed away a few years ago after a long battle with cancer. Even as her health deteriorated, she never lost her spirit. She’d still get excited about whether the Pittsburgh Steelers might finally have a…

“Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value.” ~Albert Einstein, adapted I often feel like I was born into the wrong story. I grew up in a time when success meant something quieter. My father was a public school music teacher. We didn’t have much, but there was a dignity in…

“Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.” ~Helen Keller The phone call arrived like a silent explosion, shattering the ordinary hum of a Tuesday morning. My uncle was gone, suddenly, unexpectedly. Just a few months later, before the raw edges of that loss could even begin…

“The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are.” ~Carl Jung We all had a wild ride during the pandemic, am I right? Mine included falling in love with a woman. At fifty years old. That’s not something I expected. But isn’t that how life goes? One day you’re baking sourdough and…

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do.” ~Mark Twain Let me set the scene. It’s a blistering summer day in Miami—the kind where the humidity hugs you tighter than your ex at a high school reunion, and the air feels…

“Vulnerability is not oversharing. It’s sharing with people who have earned the right to hear our story.” ~Brené Brown Earlier this year, I found myself in a place I never imagined: locked in a psychiatric emergency room, wearing a paper wristband, surrounded by strangers in visible distress. I wasn’t suicidal. I hadn’t harmed anyone. I’d…

“You can rewrite the story. You just have to pick up the pen.” ~Unknown I remember the exact moment I started disappearing. It was my wedding day. Just before I walked down the aisle, my mother gently reached for my hand and said, “Your hands are freezing!” She was right. I was ice-cold. At first,…

 “Your silence will not protect you.” ~Audre Lorde When I was little, I learned that being “good” meant being quiet. Not just with my voice, but with my needs. My emotions. Even the space I took up. I don’t remember anyone sitting me down and saying, “Don’t speak unless spoken to.” But I felt it—in…