There’s Nothing Wrong with You
What Losing My Brother Taught Me About Addiction, Shame, and Love
“Protest any labels that turn people into things. Words are important. If you want to care for something, you call it a ‘flower’; if you want to kill something, you call it a ‘weed.’” ~Don Coyhis
Losing my brother to a substance use disorder taught me things I never wanted to learn. Things nobody prepares you for. Things that will change you in ways you never thought possible.
It taught me that you can love someone so much it physically hurts—and still not be able to save them. It taught me that you can mourn someone you love long before …
Breaking the Cycle of “There’s Something Wrong with Me”
“The wound is where the light enters you.” ~Rumi
“I can’t do anything right. There’s something wrong with me.”
My daughter said these words quietly, almost as if she didn’t want me to hear them. But I did. And the moment I did, something in my chest cracked open.
I knew that feeling. I’d carried it my entire childhood.
We were in the kitchen; I sat on the floor and pulled her next to me. My mind racing while I tried to keep my focus on her, eyes full of compassion, as if I could pull her inside me to …
Want to Eat Healthier and Feel Better in Your Skin?
Would you say you’re a healthy eater? If not, is this a goal for you?
For years, people thought of me as healthy because I rarely ate meat or desserts. But it was more that I was desperate to stay thin, and I consumed tons of processed food and sugary candy because I could eat them without gaining weight.
Now that I’m older, and especially since I have children, I’m much more conscious of what I eat. I want to actually nourish my body so I can keep up with them for years to come, and I hope to make
What Happened When I Stopped Making Rigid Rules for Myself
“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” ~Viktor E. Frankl
I stood in my kitchen, staring at the leftover red velvet cake from my birthday party the night before. It was beautiful: layers of deep red with cream cheese frosting that I knew tasted incredible. And for the first time in years, I heard something different than the voice that had ruled my life.
For so long, there had been this other voice. Dominating. Controlling. It told me exactly what
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