Religious

“Being a good person doesn’t mean being a doormat… You can be kind, giving, and full of love, but that doesn’t mean you have to accept disrespect or allow your boundaries to be crossed.” ~Unknown I can still vividly remember sitting in my seventh-grade classroom, forcing a laugh as my classmates made jokes at my […]

“Neuroscience research shows that the only way we can change the way we feel is by becoming aware of our inner experience and learning to befriend what is going inside ourselves.” ~Bessel A. van der Kolk It’s early morning, and I wake with an intense sensation of foreboding. I say wake up, but really, it’s

“The place of true healing is a fierce place. It’s a giant place. It’s a place of monstrous beauty and endless dark and glimmering light. And you have to work really, really, really hard to get there, but you can do it.” ~Cheryl Strayed My memories of my sister are much hazier than they used

“Owning our story can be hard but not nearly as difficult as spending our lives running from it.” ~Brené Brown What is the exact point when you realize you are in a toxic relationship? For me, it was a process that took almost a year. I thought I was mindful and “awake.” I did have

“Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you.” ~Anne Lamott I used to believe that success meant always being available. Always saying yes. Always responding immediately to emails, Slack pings, texts, whatever was thrown my way. Because if I stopped—even for a second—I might fall behind. And if

Honestly, it’s hard to believe I’m at the age for perimenopause. I feel young in many ways, despite the exhaustion of parenting two young kids. And I’ve always felt somewhat eternal, doing whatever I want to do at any age, without regard for what other people think or believe. But here I am—forty-five, dealing with

“Confidence comes not from always being right but from not fearing to be wrong.” ~Peter T. McIntyre I used to think of confidence as something external, something that people exuded in their body language, in the way they spoke, or in the certainty of their decisions. To me, a confident person had a poker face

“Sometimes letting go is the ultimate act of love—both for the other person and for yourself.” ~Unknown I never imagined that the same classroom where I found love would become the first chapter of a story about letting go. Ten years ago, as an undergraduate student full of dreams and certainty, I met him. We

“I’ve found beauty in the whimsically ordinary.” ~Elissa Gregoire The pervasive message of our time asserts that success is essential in every facet of life, be it education, career, friendships, or relationships. In the relentless pursuit of success, many of us toil ceaselessly, ingrained with the belief that triumph is the gateway to happiness. Rewind

“Your body is precious. It is your vehicle for awakening. Treat it with care.” ~Buddha For years, I thought I was healthy. I was eating what I thought was a “balanced” diet, working out regularly (mostly cardio and HIIT), and I felt like I was ticking all the boxes for self-care. On the surface, everything