The World Needs More People Who…
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 I could just love harder, be better, try more, something would change. But in that moment, watching my child suffer at the hands of the man who was supposed to protect him, I understood with absolute clarity that nothing I did would ever …
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 be okay with days where I am in active trauma or grief, when I feel there is nothing to be grateful for. It’s okay to be in those places.
Gratitude is but one of the plethora of tools I’ve used to shift my perspective on …
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 far more reasonable.
I built arguments.
I constructed careful, layered explanations. I mapped policy references, contextual details, and logical connections. I laid out what felt like a complete reticulum of ideas in my defense. If I could make my case airtight, I believed, it would …
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 always loved wedding dresses for their artistry, their structure, and the way each one feels like its own separate world of intention and detail.
But what has surprised me most hasn’t been the beauty. It’s been the these dresses revealed important lessons about confidence and …
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 surreal blue, bathtub-warm Arabian Sea.
Surfing waves consistently has been my goal for the past two years, and I’m doing it. Which is pretty awesome considering that I never thought I would surf again.
The trauma and fear from a surfing accident ten years ago, …
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 if you avoided alcohol for a month. But I should have known; my body had something else in mind.
Truthfully, the real reasons are much more complex. Alcoholism runs in my family. I’ve never thought I had a problem, but
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