Nothing Is Permanent
Why I Let My Kids See My Sadness Now (After Hiding It for Years)
“I will not teach or love or show you anything perfectly, but I will let you see me, and I will always hold sacred the gift of seeing you—truly, deeply, seeing you.” ~Brené Brown
The first time my kids saw me truly cry was Christmas of 2021. My oldest was sixteen, and my youngest was twelve.
They had just opened their presents. It should have been a warm, joyful morning. Instead, I turned away toward the foyer near the entry of the house, my back to them, as tears threatened to spill over. My mom—whose emotional chaos had disrupted a …
All the Important Things a Scale Can’t Measure
“She remembered who she was, and the game changed.” ~Lalah Delia
The scale. Those dreaded words and those dreaded numbers. It can strike fear in the heart of any generally happy human. We look at guidelines and BMI charts and always think, “It should be lower.”
Have you ever been having a perfectly good day and suddenly think, “Maybe I should weigh myself?” And just like that, your day is ruined.
How do we let a $20 bathroom scale dictate how we feel about ourselves?
I remember stepping on the scale and seeing numbers that somehow determined how I valued …
From People-Pleasing to Self-Trust: How to Come Back to Yourself
“The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are.” ~Carl Jung
Where did I want to go out to eat?
The question was straightforward, and the answer should have been easy. But as my mind flipped through the options, my thoughts weren’t focused on what I wanted. Instead, I was preoccupied with making the right choice, the one least likely to cause tension.
Yes, my partner had asked where I wanted to go. But over time, I learned that answering honestly often came with consequences. My choice might be questioned, dismissed, or turned into a debate. If …
Phone Down, Eyes Up: How to Really See the People We Love
“The most precious gift we can offer anyone is our attention.” ~Thich Nhat Hanh
Judy was three the first time I missed it. She had spent a solid ten minutes stacking every couch cushion on our living room floor in Vancouver, building what she clearly considered an Olympic-grade landing pad. She climbed up on the couch, stretched her arms out wide, and gave me that look. You know the one. The look kids give you right before they do something that makes your heart jump into your throat.
“Baba, watch!” she yelled.
My phone was in my hand. It was …
What My Body Taught Me: 13 Surgeries, One Coma, Countless Powerful Lessons
“Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.” ~Khalil Gibran
I was born with spina bifida. When I was ten years old, doctors told me I might not walk again after a surgery that would change my life.
I don’t remember every word they said, but I remember the feeling, the air shifting in the room, the adults speaking carefully, the quiet that followed.
Paralysis was a possibility.
By that point, my body already knew hospital ceilings well. I had been through multiple surgeries before I fully understood what surgery meant. …
What’s Really Happening When Your Thoughts Spiral at Night
“The anxiety is not the enemy. It is the messenger. The mistake is killing the messenger instead of reading the letter.” ~Unknown
It’s 3 a.m. I’m lying in the dark, planning my own funeral.
Not because anything is wrong. My family is safe. There is no emergency. But my brain has decided, with complete confidence, that the headache I had this afternoon is something fatal. I am already thinking about who will come. Who will cry. Who will move on faster than I’d like.
An hour earlier, the same brain decided my career was ending. I have a presentation tomorrow—and …
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