Nature

“Sometimes what you’re most afraid of doing is the very thing that will set you free.” ~Robert Tew When I say that my need for people to like me has been one of the hidden rulers of my life, I’m not kidding! Ever since I was a kid, I wanted everyone to like me, and […]

“Inner strengths are the supplies you’ve got in your pack as you make your way down the twisting and often hard road of life.” ~Rick Hanson “I had a rough day. Can we talk?” I asked my husband in 2015 after coming home from work. He nodded, and we sat down on the couch. I

“When we experience our lives through this lens of personal insufficiency, we are imprisoned in what I call the trance of unworthiness. Trapped in this trance, we are unable to perceive the truth of who we really are.” ~Tara Brach Breaking free from the trance of unworthiness is a key part of our evolution process,

“Ever tried, ever failed, no matter. Try again, fail again, fail better.” ~Samuel Beckett I felt an enormous sense of relief when I discovered that he was a total mess! I’m talking about one of the most revered Buddhist monks of our time. I learned this from a short autobiography, A Mountain in Tibet: A

“It is important for people to know that no matter what lies in their past, they can overcome the dark side and press on to a brighter world.” ~Dave Pelzer, A Child Called “It” I grew up in the shadow of my pathologically narcissistic father. From a very young age, my role in the family

“The mystery of human existence lies not in just staying alive, but in finding something to live for.” ~Fyodor Dostoyevsky When I was in my last semester of college in 2016, I got my first paid job working in libraries as a children’s library assistant. I can remember the passion and sense of purpose I

It’s a new week, and that can bring with it a sense of excitement and possibility or a sense of dread about your overwhelming responsibilities. Sometimes for me it’s both. And not just because I have a lot to do, but also because, like most of us, I have a lot going in my head

As we get older, we tend to get clearer on what matters most to us in life. For me, it’s self-care and relationships. If you share my top values, you’re in luck, because today’s special offer honors both of those things! In my experience, self-care and relationships have been deeply intertwined—because I’ve found that deep-level

“Every day, the world will drag you by the hand, yelling, ‘This is important! And this is important! And this is important! You need to worry about this! And this! And this!’ And each day, it’s up to you to yank your hand back, put it on your heart, and say, ‘No. This is what’s

“New beginnings are often disguised as painful endings.” ~Lao Tzu Once believed to be conflict-free, our relationship disintegrated on a fateful evening in May 2007, revealing the facade of our supposed happiness. We always said, “We’ll be all right because we never fight.” Well, that belief shattered on my dad’s fifty-fourth birthday. What was supposed