“Shame is the intensely painful feeling or experience of believing that we are flawed and therefore unworthy of love, belonging, and connection.” ~Brené Brown, Atlas of the Heart This past year, I started the journey of investigating—maybe even befriending—“my” shame. I use quotes around the “my” because most of the shame is not mine; much of it is internalized…
“Rule your mind, or it will rule you.” ~Buddha I used to be trapped in a cycle of overthinking, replaying past mistakes, worrying about the future, and mentally holding onto every thought, just as I physically held onto old clothes, books, and my child’s outgrown toys. The fear of letting go—whether of physical items or persistent thoughts—felt overwhelming. But…
“You should be angry. You must not be bitter. Bitterness is like cancer. It eats upon the host. It doesn’t do anything to the object of its displeasure. So use that anger. You write it. You paint it. You dance it. You march it. You vote it. You do everything about it. You talk it. Never stop talking it.” ~Maya Angelou My…
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” ~Albert Einstein For a long time, I lived under the illusion that I was solving the problems standing between me and my desires. Whether it was love, success, or the kind of life I dreamed of, I believed I was taking the necessary steps…
“Life doesn’t allow for us to go back and fix what we have done wrong in the past, but it does allow for us to live each day better than our last.” ~Unknown It’s funny how from one day to the next your entire world, the core of your belief systems, and the way you live life just change….
“When you can’t look on the bright side, I will sit with you in the dark.” ~Unknown There are moments in life when pain feels consuming—when it lingers, reshapes us, and forces us to confront parts of ourselves we’ve long avoided. Recently, I found myself in one of those moments. I was overwhelmed, unraveling, and isolating, trying to make…
“Pain is not wrong. Reacting to pain as wrong initiates the tangle of emotional resistance against what is already happening.” ~Tara Brach The wooden meditation hall creaked softly as sixty people shifted in their seats, trying to find comfort in the silence. Outside, winter rain tapped against the windows, a gentle metronome marking time. I sat cross-legged on my…
“Our painful experiences aren’t a liability—they’re a gift. They give us perspective and meaning, an opportunity to find our unique purpose and our strength.” –Dr. Edith Eger, The Choice: Embrace the Possible The loss of an unrealized dream sent me spiraling down, down into the darkness. A darkness filled with a despair and hopelessness that I had not known…
“Being a good person doesn’t mean being a doormat… You can be kind, giving, and full of love, but that doesn’t mean you have to accept disrespect or allow your boundaries to be crossed.” ~Unknown I can still vividly remember sitting in my seventh-grade classroom, forcing a laugh as my classmates made jokes at my expense. My cheeks would…
“Neuroscience research shows that the only way we can change the way we feel is by becoming aware of our inner experience and learning to befriend what is going inside ourselves.” ~Bessel A. van der Kolk It’s early morning, and I wake with an intense sensation of foreboding. I say wake up, but really, it’s just coming fully into…
