Nature

“Vulnerability is not oversharing. It’s sharing with people who have earned the right to hear our story.” ~Brené Brown Earlier this year, I found myself in a place I never imagined: locked in a psychiatric emergency room, wearing a paper wristband, surrounded by strangers in visible distress. I wasn’t suicidal. I hadn’t harmed anyone. I’d […]

 “Your silence will not protect you.” ~Audre Lorde When I was little, I learned that being “good” meant being quiet. Not just with my voice, but with my needs. My emotions. Even the space I took up. I don’t remember anyone sitting me down and saying, “Don’t speak unless spoken to.” But I felt it—in

“You can rewrite the story. You just have to pick up the pen.” ~Unknown I remember the exact moment I started disappearing. It was my wedding day. Just before I walked down the aisle, my mother gently reached for my hand and said, “Your hands are freezing!” She was right. I was ice-cold. At first,

“Our sorrows and wounds are healed only when we touch them with compassion.” ~Jack Kornfield Her absence lingers in the stillness of early mornings, in the moments between tasks, in the hush of evening when the day exhales. I’ve gotten good at moving. At staying busy. At producing. But sometimes, especially lately, the quiet catches

“Rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I built my life.” ~J.K. Rowling Most people who know me will say I am incredibly kind, loving, and empathetic. They know me as a safe person that they can share anything with and that I won’t judge. What they may not know is I am incredibly

“Jerry, there is some bad in the best of people and some good in the worst of people. Look for the good!” ~George Chaky, my grandfather I was seven when he said that to me. It would later become a guiding principle in my life. My grandfather was twenty-one when he came to the US

My electric toothbrush has seen it all. I usually look in the mirror when I’m brushing my teeth, and for a while last fall, I often cried when I stared into my own eyes. I did my best to hold it together in front of my sons—most of the time, anyway. But the mask often

“The only people who get upset when you set boundaries are the ones who benefited from you having none.” ~Unknown For most of my life, I lived with a quiet ache, a longing I couldn’t quite name but always felt. I wanted to be chosen. Not just liked or tolerated, but fully seen, wanted, and

“Emotions are not problems to be solved. They are signals to be felt.” ~Vironika Tugaleva We’ve been taught to package our emotions like fast food—served quick, tidy, and with a smile. Americanized feelings. Digestible. Non-threatening. Always paired with productivity. If you’re sad, journal it. If you’re angry, regulate it. If you’re overwhelmed, fix it with

“True belonging only happens when we present our authentic, imperfect selves to the world. Our sense of belonging can never be greater than our level of self-acceptance.” ~Brené Brown Last year over lunch, my friend, Jess, confessed something to me that hit me right in my gut because I’d been there too—that exact same lie,