Religious

“Tears of despair can be fuel. Thunders of anger can be light.” ~Maxime Lagacé Let’s talk about rockets. This is going somewhere, I promise. If you ever watch a rocket launch, you’ll see a large cylinder fall off once it gets to a certain height. Breaking earth’s gravity is not easy, so the cylinder is […]

“Time spent in self-reflection is never wasted—it is an intimate date with yourself.” ~Paul TP Wong I’ve found journaling is a polarizing activity. People love it or hate it. (If you are in the latter group, don’t worry, you’ll still get a lot out of this!) Personally, I’ve hit both ends of the spectrum at

“True forgiveness comes when you realize there is something totally radiant inside you, that nobody could ever touch” ~Eckhart Tolle I grew up in an emotionally abusive household. My father was a man who diligently provided for us, but he left me with scars and shattered self-esteem. My mother cooked me my favorite foods and

“Sometimes it takes relationships that don’t last forever to teach us lessons that will.” ~Unknown I recently had to let go of a friendship I had been in for almost eight years. In the first few years of knowing each other, we had magnetic pulls. Each time we would arrange to hang out, it was

“Do you have the patience to wait until your mud settles, and the water is clear? Can you remain unmoving until the right action arises by itself?” ~Lao Tzu I don’t know why, and I don’t know when it exactly begins, but somehow, we are socialized to believe that happiness depends on the stars aligning,

Trigger warning: This post deals with an account of suicide and euthanasia. “Kindness can be its own motive. We are made kind by being kind.” ~Eric Hoffer The first time I sat with a person contemplating suicide, I had no idea until it was too late. I think about her often. She was a stranger.

“Only to the extent that we expose ourselves over and over to annihilation can that which is indestructible be found in us.” ~Pema Chödrön Standing at the bathroom sink, I brought my gaze up to the mirror. I couldn’t avoid eye contact with the one person I had no desire to talk to. I had

“Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken.” ~Oscar Wilde “Cringey” is what my kids called it. Me? I was just being Sam. After hitting “post” on my highly emotive Instagram video—one of those more-than-one-minute jobbies that winds up on Instagram TV—I closed the app and had a brief moment of panic. Maybe I said too

“The feeling of being rejected, disapproved of, or conditionally loved by one’s primary caregivers is a monumental, long-lasting burden for a child to carry. It produces chronic shame, guilt, and anxiety. The child is blamed for doing something wrong and in doing so learns to perceive themselves as being bad.” ~Darius Cikanavicius, Human Development and Trauma:

“Success is a series of small wins.” ~Unknown You tried everything. Nothing worked. What now? I was the Marketing Director of a tech startup, and my work wasn’t bringing in the money or traction that it should. I did everything to improve my results: I read more books, consulted mentors, changed my mindset and tactics,