Tag: authentic living

  • The Robin on the Fence

    What if nothing is missing at all? What if everything we’re searching for is already here, and we simply can’t see it because we keep looking somewhere else? Inspired by Francis Weller’s In the Absence of the Ordinary, this post is an invitation to slow down, notice what’s right in front of you, and consider…

  • Breaking Down the Barriers to Love

    “I spent almost half a decade looking into the mirror and seeing someone else. Who did I see? Someone who everyone else expected me to be. People-pleasing doesn’t give your true self the opportunity to be loved—and it doesn’t give someone else the opportunity to be loved by your true self.”

  • The Stories We Tell Ourselves: Finding Truth Beyond Collective Narratives

    We tell ourselves stories in order to live,” Joan Didion wrote. But what happens when those shared stories—our collective narratives—become barriers to the very connection they promise to create? Growing up with parents whose lives were like apple carts filled to capacity, I learned early how fragile our shared stories can be. One uncomfortable truth…

  • Learning to Trust Yourself: A Journey of Self-Discovery

    “Here’s what I’ve learned: self-trust isn’t something you either have or don’t have—it’s something you build through small, consistent deposits of self-advocacy.Just like a bank account, trust accumulates through repeated deposits. Every time you honor a commitment to yourself—even a tiny one—you’re making a deposit. Every time you speak up for your needs, set a…

  • You’re Not Crazy: Psychology Finally Recognizes Religious Trauma

    “To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson For years, those of us who walked away from toxic religion were told we just had a ‘bad church experience’—but a groundbreaking American Psychological Association article is finally validating what we’ve known…

  • Being Yourself in a World That Doesn’t Want You To

    Last night I watched the movie Sinners, and it left me thinking about the true power of our emotions. This film ranks among the best I’ve seen in a theater recently. If you enjoy vampire stories with rich storytelling, beautiful mythology, and deep historical context, you should definitely see this movie. What struck me most…