Dear Emma:

Please don’t worry at all about delays—truly, whatever pace feels right for you is absolutely fine with me. I deeply value the connection that’s grown between us, and I’d love for you to feel free and safe to message whenever it suits you, whether that’s twice a week or once a month or only when your heart nudges you toward it.

I hear the weight you’re carrying right now, and I admire your strength in seeking to understand it more fully in therapy. Grief has its own strange rhythm, and it asks so much of us. Please be gentle with yourself.

If email feels more comfortable for you when sharing personal reflections, I welcome that wholeheartedly. Feel free to post your address whenever you’re ready, and I’ll be sure to write to you there. Just so you know—each morning when I sit at the computer, I tend to check and answer tiny buddha first before opening my email.

Warm hugs back to you—soft ones and sturdy ones. Looking forward to hearing from you in any form and any moment that feels right.

🤍 Anita

Hi Everyone:

“My son accidentally kicked me in the face. I said “Ow, my nose is sore!” He came over and gave it a kiss.”- this is the most beautiful thing I read in quite sometime, Alessa 😊

I find beauty in your idea that moral shame, when welcomed like Buddhism suggests, can be less of a burden and more of a guide. Not something to punish ourselves with, but something that gently says, “You care. You want to do better.” And maybe that’s the heart of it—the capacity to care.

The book Healing the Shame That Binds You by John Bradshaw, along with other works on toxic shame, makes a clear and vital distinction between healthy shame and toxic shame. Healthy Shame acknowledges human limitations: It reminds us we’re not perfect, and that’s okay. It promotes humility and empathy: It helps us recognize when we’ve hurt others and motivates repair. It supports growth: It creates space for reflection, learning, and change. It is temporary and situational: It arises in response to specific actions, not as a judgment of the whole self. It encourages connection: It deepens relationships through vulnerability and accountability. Example: “I made a mistake, and I want to make it right.”

Toxic Shame, on the other hand, becomes an identity: It convinces us we are fundamentally flawed or unworthy. It freezes the nervous system: It leads to emotional paralysis, isolation, and despair. It distorts perception: It makes us see neutral or positive feedback as criticism. It is chronic and pervasive: It’s not about what we did—it’s about who we believe we are. It blocks healing: It prevents self-compassion and reinforces cycles of self-blame. Example: “I am a mistake. I don’t deserve love.”

Bradshaw describes toxic shame as the internalized voice that says “I am bad,” rather than “I did something wrong.” It’s the shame that binds, silences, and distorts. Healthy shame, by contrast, is a guide—it helps us live ethically, relate meaningfully, and stay grounded in our shared humanity.

So I read (the above). I intend to shift from toxic shame to healthy shame, than you, Alessa, for reminding me of this distinction and for the smile you brought to my face as I imagined your son giving your 👃 a 😘.

Warmly, Anita

Thank you, Peter. I see you as a mentor—someone guiding me through what is still difficult to do.

After I posted yesterday, I found myself revisited by an old companion: shame. A flicker of disappointment stirred, as if I had declared “No shame!” and expected the spell to hold. It was a kind of magical thinking—a pattern I recognize from childhood and adolescence: “From now on, I’ll be good.” “From now on, I’ll make no mistakes.” And last night: “From now on, no shame, no guilt.”

Reading your response, I saw the echo of that same wish: to return to Eden as we once were—innocent, untouched, unburdened. As if simply shedding shame and guilt were enough to slip back into the garden as the little girl I used to be.

But you offered a wiser truth: we cannot return as we were—only as we are, transformed. And transformation begins with radical acceptance. Shame and guilt become threads in the tapestry of our story—not definitions of our worth, but markers of growth.

To transform them is to cultivate a climate of love and belonging where those old echoes lose their sting—where they cannot survive because the atmosphere is too warm, too clear, too kind.

What emerges, I hope, is a transformed innocence—not rooted in ignorance, but in wisdom, compassion, and radical self-acceptance. If Eden is to be re-entered, it is not through denial, but through integration. We must become someone who belongs there—someone who has turned suffering into strength, guilt into grace.

And I do see your grace, Peter—in your words, your insight, your absence of judgment.

Eden isn’t lost—it has changed shape. It is no longer a garden untouched by awareness, but a sacred space earned through turning suffering into strength, guilt into grace, confusion into insight, and shame into liberation—the freedom to exist without apology or self-erasure.

It’s a place of integration: of light and shadow, joy and sorrow, innocence and experience.

Shame and guilt aren’t banished at the gate—they are transformed by the fire that guards it.

Thank you for walking with me into this unfolding, Peter—for echoing the stillness and the fire. If you feel moved to respond, I’d love to hear what Eden feels like for you, now… not as a memory, but as a rhythm that’s shifting.

.. I feel a current moving—I’ll follow it into my own thread, where the words will find their rhythm.

Anita

Dear Genesis:

I want to reply to you a second time to improve upon my first message from over a month ago.

It’s clear your husband has said and done things that left you doubting your worth and questioning whether you were ever fully wanted. Yet at the same time, you mention that he’s a lovely person, that he loves you now, and that you’ve begun couples therapy together (“We recently start couples counseling. I know he loves me now, and he’s a lovely person”). That says something about his willingness to try—but also raises questions about why these ruptures happened in the first place.

There could be many possible motivations behind his behavior, and while none excuse the harm, understanding them might help you make sense of the confusion:

1) Avoidance of conflict or discomfort: He may struggle to voice difficult feelings in real time, delaying honesty until circumstances force it—like after the wedding or during financial losses. He might not believe conflict can be navigated constructively, so he puts off the truth until it spills out under pressure—where it often causes more harm.

2) Fear of rejection or emotional vulnerability: Some people hold back truths because they’re scared that being fully open will make them unlovable, so they hide parts of themselves and hope things will “just work out.”

3) Unresolved internal insecurities: Someone might push their partner away because they’re scared of getting too close, not because they don’t care. Your husband might have struggled with commitment or his own self-worth early on, and instead of facing it directly, he made abrupt moves (like breaking things off or sharing unexpected confessions) that left you feeling unchosen or unwanted. But those actions may have been more about his internal conflict than about his valuing you.

4) Poor communication skills or emotional immaturity: It’s possible he simply hasn’t learned how to navigate emotional complexity with clarity and care. Sharing personal doubts at inappropriate times, making comments about attraction, or mismanaging decisions like whether to have children—these don’t necessarily point to malice. They might reflect an underdeveloped emotional toolkit. He may not yet know how to express complexity with care: how to hold space for nuance, how to balance truth with kindness, how to repair rather than explain away. This immaturity doesn’t mean he can’t grow—but it does mean the healing will require intention, not just affection.

You asked whether it’s possible to heal from patterns like this. Sometimes it is—especially if both partners are willing to do the deeper work. That includes not just apologies, but repair that is active, consistent, and emotionally attuned. It also includes space for your healing, on your terms.

Rebuilding self-esteem after feeling chipped away takes gentleness, patience, and reconnection with your own truth. What parts of you feel silenced or small in this relationship? What boundaries need to be reclaimed?

I hope couples therapy brings clarity—and I hope you keep holding space for your own growth and wholeness. You don’t have to figure everything out at once. You’re allowed to take your time, and you’re allowed to prioritize your peace.

Sending care and strength, Anita

Hey Alecsee, I imagine her message brought up a lot of feelings, especially after everything that’s happened. It sounds like she’s asking for some time and space to think things through.

Did you send her a reply? What did you say?

I know it’s hard to stay quiet when you want answers or connection. But sometimes being calm and giving space helps more than pushing for quick fixes. How are you feeling about it all?

Anita