Start to notice what makes you feel most inspired, playful, serene, and alive! Those are great clues to what your next step is to unlock more inspiration and motivation- no matter what it is you do.

I believe turning deeply inward saved me from re-creating the life I watched my parents living. I thought that deep introspection, silence, and sense of detached peace was mature, responsible, beautiful, and strong. I thought it made me more stable and patient and capable of giving love… and maybe it did, but I’m waking up to a new reality today: there’s even more to life when I’m not passive and detached!

Once, I lived a life where I never wanted to wake up at all. I wished I could just stop existing. I struggled with depression and frequent suicidal thoughts. I felt very strongly, or else I felt numb and hopeless. I’d wake, disappointed that the sun was already up, too tired to move. The light felt too bright, my limbs didn’t want to move. I was tired.I would sleep another hour, or four, crawling out of bed in the late afternoon. So how did I get from there… to this joyful life of freedom, peace, and beauty?

Have you seen The Boy with the Cuckoo-Clock Heart?

I especially love Miss Acacia and the way the artists showed her guard going up as a rope of thorns that appears around her body. Sometimes I feel that happen in myself, especially online where it's so easy for people to forget they are sharing with other humans- not just a screen full of numbers.

The power isn’t in hiding the feelings, it’s in having the courage to let them show.

You already know you want to live a passionate life. You already want to stop being a perfectionist and learn to execute your amazing ideas, go with the flow sometimes, pave your own path at times, and have an impact on this world.

Two weeks later: I hear my soul telling me that joy shouldn’t have to be numbed- that drinking shouldn’t be a requirement for relaxation and fun.

I’ve been terrified at the sometimes absent and too-often apathetic face I see in the mirror. This joy is real, for a moment, but the second a vice comes into play, I’ve betrayed the purity of the moment and a piece of my heart breaks without my permission. The self-betrayal has to stop. That’s not love. I can’t live like this.

I meant to find the secret… the one that made adulthood healthy and stable and peaceful and the secret that transforms you from a scared little girl to a confident, expressive, and powerful grown woman.

I knew that I was here to do more in this life than just heal…

I read somewhere online today that to disappoint breaks down into dis- as in breaking or setting aside- and appoint, which is a given role… and that when you disappoint someone, what you’ve done is set aside the role they’ve given you… and that we ought not be ashamed for turning down roles that aren’t right for us.

There’s an awful lot of violence and cruelty in this world. Anyone truly committed to kindness is going to feel some strong things around that violence, which means they’re going to have to stand up to the oppressors and those contributing to the violence, or else they’re not truly living in alignment with their values.

And… sometimes traditional kindness doesn’t cut it. So, then what?

Trusting ourselves should be the most natural thing in the world, but the truth is that it can be really difficult. Especially if we believe we’ve been wrong in the past, and even more so if our being wrong ended with pain and regret.

I read somewhere online today that to disappoint breaks down into dis- as in breaking or setting aside- and appoint, which is a given role… and that when you disappoint someone, what you’ve done is set aside the role they’ve given you… and that we ought not be ashamed for turning down roles that aren’t right for us.

My first thought with this is that it’s not fair if

I feel as if I’ve been stripped down to the bare bones of who I am… raw and missing any superficial layers of protection and numbness. I’ve spoken up to my elders in the face of injustice and hypocrisy, even though it was scary and at the risk of it ruining relationships that may have been standing on pillars of self-denial and betraying silence.

I feel as if I’ve been stripped down to the bare bones of who I am… raw and missing any superficial layers of protection and numbness. I’ve spoken up to my elders in the face of injustice and hypocrisy, even though it was scary and at the risk of it ruining relationships that may have been standing on pillars of self-denial and betraying silence.

I’m going to give you two tools to uncover the truth behind what’s going on. They’ll be most effective if you start with the first one to get in tune with your body and really feel where you are physically, and then dive into the second exercise to open up to the answers your heart already knows (that your self-doubt is drowning out).

What do you do when your dreams finally come true? I looked at my list of ideas, noted my blank slate, and got to work.

I love my natural inclination to dig deeper, to live deeply, to think and explore and play and evaluate and reflect. I love that I find my way to the answers that I need. My natural instincts are lovely. And I am always doing my best. And I’m allowed to rest and I’m allowed to play within my soul. I’m allowed to pray and live and love in my own way. And it is enough.

The more I set myself free and lean into the depths of my own desire and joy and peace each day, the closer I feel to who I want to be. Today, though, I woke up feeling a little defeated. I felt like these changes fell into place like dominoes, one after another so naturally. This last change is happening on its own too, but I’m eager for it. My impatience is getting in the way of my dream unfolding naturally. This one thought holds me back: “I feel so small.”

Today we’re looking at recognizing resistance in our daily lives so that we can actually process it and choose our next steps consciously, rather than subconsciously sabotaging ourselves and avoiding the resistance. (Which leads to built up emotions, continued frustration, dwindling hopes, and all that other not-so-fun stuck-ness!)