Nature

“You wouldn’t worry so much about what others think of you if you realized how seldom they do.” ~Eleanor Roosevelt It’s natural to think that we’re always in the spotlight. We think that people care about the way we dress, but they don’t. We think that people notice our nervous habits, when in reality, they’re

“Lean into the discomfort of the work.” ~ Brené Brown Anxiety was the core of my existence for decades. When I look back at my life over that time, what comes to mind first is the constant tension in my chest, a knotted stomach, and a lump in my throat. From the outside, my life

Do you ever feel like you’re not doing even a fraction of what you could be doing with your life? I’m guessing we’ve all felt like that since the start of the pandemic. But did you feel like that before—like you have gifts to share and passions to explore, but you just don’t know how,

“Our relationships are a reflection of the relationship we have with ourselves.” ~Iyanla Vanzant Looking back at my life I see that all of my romantic relationships up until now suffered because I didn’t recognize or value my sensitivity. For much of my life I thought there was something wrong with me. I was too

“Forgiveness is giving up the hope that the past could have been any different.” ~Oprah Winfrey When I was a little girl, I made many wishes. At first, I believed all of my wishes would come true, just like in the fairy tales my mother read to me before bed. However, slowly but surely, life changed

“I will not say: do not weep; for not all tears are an evil.” ~J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King Grief creeps up on you when you least expect it. It reminds you of the person you have lost when you’re out for coffee with friends, watching people hug their loved ones goodbye at the airport,

“I used to dislike being sensitive. I thought it made me weak. But take away that single trait, and you take away the very essence of who I am.” ~Caitlin Japa “You’re making people uncomfortable,” my mother would say. “Stop being so sensitive,” she would then quip. I have always been sensitive for as long

“The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails.” ~William Arthur Ward I live in the windiest city in the world—Wellington, New Zealand. Perched between the North and South Island, this colorful little city gets hammered by wind. The winds from the south bring cold, and the winds

“Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny.” ~C.S. Lewis I was talking to a mentor of mine several months ago, and they cut me off midsentence and said, “Zach, it sounds like you’re trying to be extraordinary. How about you just work at being ordinary?” I paused then promptly broke into tears. Yep.