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Full Circle: Reclaiming the Me Who Felt Most Alive

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“We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.” ~T.S. Eliot

In my early twenties, I packed a backpack and boarded a plane alone with a one-way ticket to Southeast Asia. It was a move that baffled my father, inspired my friends, and quietly terrified me.

I was drawn by something I couldnā€™t fully articulate at the time: a craving for freedom, truth, and a kind of belonging I hadnā€™t yet known. What I didnā€™t realize then is that this two-year …

The Trauma Keeps Talkingā€”But My Voice Is Now Louder

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“Turn down the volume of your negative inner voice and create a nurturing inner voice to take its place.ā€ ~Beverly Engel

After the abuse ends, people think the pain ends too. But what no one tells you is that sometimes the loudest voice isnā€™t the abuserā€™s anymoreā€”itā€™s the one that settles inside you.

It whispers:

ā€œYouā€™re broken.ā€

ā€œYouā€™re used.ā€

ā€œYou donā€™t deserve better.ā€

And over time, that voice doesnā€™t just whisper. It becomes the rhythm of your thoughts, the lens through which you see yourself.

Thatā€™s what I mean when I say the trauma keeps talking.

Living with the Echo

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The God I Lost, the One I Found, and the Faith That Changed Me

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“I searched for God and found only myself. I searched for myself and found only God.ā€ ~Rumi

Thereā€™s a particular kind of heartbreak that happens when you realize some of your prayers are going nowhere.

Thereā€™s a painful silence that follows unanswered calls. Yet, despite the ache, I can still feel the pull to pray to the God outside of myselfā€”that old reflex to place faith in something bigger, some invisible force in the sky, who, apparently, can make things happen magically here on Earth.

But it doesnā€™t always go that way, does it?

I prayed my cancer would go …

The Grief No One Talks About: How to Heal After Losing a Soulmate Pet

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“Until one has loved an animal, a part of oneā€™s soul remains unawakened.” ~Anatole France

When my cat Squiggles died, I didnā€™t just ā€œlose a pet.ā€ I lost a part of my identity, my greatest source of comfort, and my sense of home.

Squiggles was the one constant in my life through every milestone, every heartbreak, every version of myself I grew into over the course of two decades. I had her since the moment she was born, and for almost twenty-two years, Squiggles was my constant companion, my emotional support, my soul-kitty.

But no matter how much I prepared …

The Weight of Regrets and the Choice to Live Better

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“It is very important for every human being to forgive herself or himself because if you live, you will make mistakesā€”it is inevitable. But once you do and you see the mistake, then you forgive yourself and say, ‘Well, if I’d known better I’d have done better.ā€™ā€ ~Maya Angelou

Iā€™ve lived long enough to know the difference between a mistake and a tragedy. Some of what I carry falls in betweenā€”moments I wish I could redo, things I said or didnā€™t say, relationships I mishandled, and opportunities I let slip through my fingers. They donā€™t scream at me every day, …

From Pain to Peace: How to Grieve and Release Unmet Expectations

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“The wound is the place where the Light enters you.” ~Rumi

Before 2011, I had heard many spiritual teachers talk about “accepting what is.” It sounded nice in theory, like good mental information to chew on. But it didnā€™t feel embodied. I understood it intellectually, but I wasn’t living it.

Then I attended a weekend intensive with a teacher I deeply respected, and something in the way he explained it hit deeper. It wasnā€™t just talk. The essence of his words turned a spiritual idea into something I could start to live.

In that talk, he shared a …

Why You Canā€™t Relax and How to Let Yourself Rest

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ā€œRest and be thankful.ā€ ~William Wordsworth

A few years ago, I caught myself doing something that made no sense.

It was late evening, my kids were asleep, the house finally quiet. Iā€™d been counting down to this moment all dayā€”dreaming of sinking into the couch, wrapping myself in a blanket, maybe even reading a book without distractions.

But when I lay down and closed my eyes, something inside me lurched. Within seconds, I reached for my phone. I didnā€™t even have anything urgent to checkā€”just mindless scrolling. Five minutes in, I was already half-sitting up, wondering if I should fold …

How Self-Portraits Brought My Messy, Honest, Beautiful Self into Focus

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“And then I realized that to be seen by others, I first had to be willing to see myself.” ~Anonymous

In a world that teaches us to be visible only when weā€™re polished, productive, or pleasing, I found something unexpected on the other side of my camera: myself.

But not the filtered version. Not the composed one or the ā€œsmiling because Iā€™m fineā€ version.

I found the person Iā€™d forgottenā€”the one who had spent years loving, giving, showing up for everyone else but rarely turning any of that tenderness inward.

I didnā€™t pick up the camera to take pretty pictures. …

3 Tools for Burnout Relief (That Iā€™m Using Right Now)

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**This post contains a giveaway. Scroll to the bottom to learn more!

Burnout has been on my mind a lot lately, and thatā€™s saying a lot since my burnout brain has trouble focusing these days.

Between working from home while raising two young kids and traveling back and forth across the country to spend time with a sick loved one, Iā€™ve felt stretched in more directions than I thought possible. I know many of you can relate to the constant push to keep going even when your body and mind are begging for rest.

Thatā€™s why Iā€™m excited to share …

The Power I Now Carry Because of My Illness

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ā€œWhatever the present moment contains, accept it as if you had chosen it. Always work with it, not against it.ā€ ~Eckhart Tolle

For years, I thought strength meant pushing through. Getting on with it. Holding it together no matter what. Not showing weakness. Not needing help. Not slowing down.

Even when I was diagnosed with a chronic illness, I wore that mindset like armor. I was determined not to let it define meā€”let alone derail me.

But eventually, it did. Not because I was weak. But because I was human. And that was the beginning of a different kind …

The Truth About My Inner Critic: It Was Trauma Talking

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“I will not let the bullies and critics of my early life win by joining and agreeing with them.” ~Pete Walker

For most of my life, there was a voice in my head that narrated everything I did, and it was kind of an a**hole.

You know the one. That voice that jumps in before you even finish a thought:

ā€œDonā€™t say that. Youā€™ll sound stupid.ā€

ā€œWhy would anyone care what you think?ā€

Ā ā€œYouā€™re too much. Youā€™re not enough. Youā€™re a mess.ā€

No matter what I did, the critic had notes. Brutal ones. And the worst part? I believed every …

The Surprising Freedom in Not Having Life All Figured Out

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“Sometimes you have to let go of the life you planned to make room for the life that’s waiting for you.” ~Joseph Campbell

My new motto? Always have a backup plan.

Life rarely goes as youā€™d imagined.

January 16th, 2001. Thatā€™s the day my life trajectory changed irrevocably. Thatā€™s the day that would lead me to, eventually, living aloneā€”to being divorced. Thatā€™s the day my ex had a ski accident that changed the lives of every member of our immediate family. But today, I donā€™t want to talk about him or that. I want to talk about my …

Why AI Can Never Replace Us: The Truth About Being Human

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“AI accidentally made me believe in the concept of a human soul by showing me what art looks like without it.” ~Unknown

What is intelligence?

Iā€™ve asked this question all my lifeā€”as a teacher, a filmmaker, a researcher, and now, as someone losing my vision to macular degeneration.

I ask it when I watch students find their voice.

I ask it when I listen to a close friend of mine, a world-renowned cosmologist, whose knowledge seems limitless but whose humility runs even deeper. He can discuss black holes one minute and quote theĀ Tao Te ChingĀ the next. He doesnā€™t …

Brilliant, Not Broken: A Powerful Reframe for Neurodivergence

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“It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences.” ~Audre Lorde

For most of my life, I asked myself a quiet question:

Whatā€™s wrong with me?

I didnā€™t say it out loud. I didnā€™t have to. It was stitched into how I moved through the worldā€Šā€”ā€Šhyperaware, self-correcting, and always just a little out of step. I knew how to ā€œpassā€ in the right settings, but never without effort. Underneath it all, I was exhausted by the daily performance of normal.

Looking back, itā€™s clear where it started.

I …

Could Curiosity Be the Best Medicine for Chronic Illness?

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ā€œWhether you think you can, or you think you can’t, you’re right.ā€Ā ~Henry Ford

Weā€™ve all been there: happily ticking off life’s checkboxes, certain we’ve cracked the code, untilā€”bam!ā€”life decides otherwise. Divorce papers, layoffs, grief, or unexpected illnessā€”life’s curveballs don’t discriminate.

For me, it was a sudden mystery illness at sixteen. What should have been a simple infection changed the trajectory of my entire life. Doctors were at a loss, tests offered no answers, and I was left navigating an uncertain reality, desperately clinging to control as my lifeline.

One day Iā€™m cheering at the Friday night football …

When Someone You Love Shuts the Door

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“It is one thing to lose people you love. It is another to lose yourself. That is a greater loss.ā€ ~Donna Goddard

We didnā€™t mean to fall into anything romantic. It started as friendship, collaboration, long voice notes about work, life, trauma, and healing. We helped each other solve problems. We gave each other pep talks before difficult meetings. He liked to say I had good instincts; I told him he had grit.

We shared vulnerabilities like flashlights in the darkā€”he told me about getting into fights, going to jail, losing jobs because he couldnā€™t keep his mouth shut. I

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The 2026 Tiny Buddha Day-to-Day Calendar is Now Available!

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Hi friends! Iā€™m excited to share that the 2026 Tiny Buddha Day-to-Day Calendar is now available for purchase!Ā And equally thrilling, I just found out my calendar was the number one bestseller in the Mind-Body-Spirit category for the last two years.

Uplifting and comforting, this calendar offers daily reflections from me, Tiny Buddha contributors, and other authors whose quotes have inspired and encouraged me.

Featuring colorful, patterned tear-off pages, the calendar is printed on FSC certified paper with soy-based ink. Topics include happiness, love, relationships, change, meaning, mindfulness, self-care, letting go, and more.

Here’s what Amazon reviewers had to say

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The Unexpected Way Jiu-Jitsu Brought Me Back to Myself

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ā€œYou may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are.ā€ ~Maya Angelou

There was a time in my life when everything felt heavy, like I was constantly carrying around a weight that no one else could see.

I wasnā€™t in a crisis, exactly. I was functioning, showing up, doing what needed to be done. But inside, I was struggling to stay afloatā€”trapped in my own head, questioning my worth, and unsure how to move forward.

One evening, I walked into a Brazilian …

My Daughter Needed Me to Choose Better, So I Did

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ā€œChildren learn more from what you are than what you teach.ā€ ~W.E.B. Du Bois

I was standing at the service bar, waiting for my drink order to be ready. The scent of steak fat clinging to my apron and infusing itself into my bra, while twenty-something servers around me whined about working on Motherā€™s Dayā€¦ yet I was theĀ onlyĀ mother working that night.

Iā€™d barely slept because I’d closed the restaurant the night before.

My nine-year-old daughter had just told me she wished she were dead.

And here I was, pretending to care about side plates and drink refills …

The Truth My Body Knew Before My Mind Did

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ā€œThe body keeps the score. If the memory of trauma is encoded in the viscera, in heartbreaking and gut-wrenching sensations, then our first priority is to help people ā€˜feelā€™ what their bodies are telling them.ā€ ~Bessel van der Kolk
I used to think my body was a liar. Because how can something thatā€™s supposed to be wise also be so dramatic?

Why did my stomach sink before a coffee date?

Why did I feel like I was going to vomit before a Zoom call?

Why did I freeze before taking a step toward the exact thing I said I wanted?…

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Life feeling heavy? Get When Life Sucks: 21 Days of Laughs and Light. A tiny daily break from all the stress.I Need That
I Need That