You Are Not Plain Yogurt

I’m not sure who needs to hear this. But, as a lifelong, relentless, deeply-resentful people pleaser, there’s one thing I wish someone had told me a long time ago:  You are NOT plain yogurt.  I can explain (I think). I spent years reading the room, taking in the social cues, trying to make myself as…

Write your own permission slip

Write Your Own Permission Slip

“I’m giving myself permission to sit this round out.” It took me way too long to learn that it’s okay to write your own permission slip when it comes to relationships — for a lot of reasons. To start, I’m a first-born, recovering overachiever. I’m also a raging empath, which makes me especially prone to…

Healing Takes The Long and Winding Road

“Freedom is recognizing that healing is a journey — not a destination.” I’ve spent much of the last four years navigating through significant and unexpected trauma with several important, foundational relationships in my life. The losses piled up high and at a dizzying pace. When I finally came out of the haze and took emotional inventory…

The Residential Gap Year

The Launch of Our Residential Gap Year(s)

So we deflected, diverted, and dodged that uncomfortable, nagging pull, steady in our resolve to do what we often did back then when faced with something that disrupted what we wanted — completely ignore it until it did our bidding and went away. It didn’t go away. Here’s a Soft Never I absolutely never saw coming: Selling our family home…

Ignoring the Cheap Seats

The Power of Ignoring The Cheap Seats

“It’s worse to spend your life on the outside looking in, wondering what if, than it is to try and dare greatly and risk the chance of failure. Dare greatly; get in the arena and try.” – Brené Brown How much time, effort, and attention do you spend tending to the people nestled comfortably in life’s “cheap…

Eliminating the Never Mindset on Boundaries

“Setting boundaries isn’t about telling people what to do. It’s about telling people what you’re not willing to do.”   I’ve only recently begun to understand the concept of healthy boundaries. Growing up, boundaries just weren’t a thing in my family, for a lot of reasons. I was taught structure, rules, and measured discipline. And…