Still Growing

February 10, 2026.Reading time 1 minute.

People pleasing is a trauma response. This statement made me stop and pause. I’ve been on a mission lately to break out of the cycle of people pleasing, and this is one revelation that I somehow missed. “It’s part of fawning,” my therapist explains. I hadn’t heard of that either. Apparently, flight, fight, freeze, or […]

Walls and Boundaries

January 24, 2024.Reading time 1 minute.

I wasn’t taught about boundaries as a child, in fact, I was encouraged not to have any. No one said so, specifically, but in the drive to please, I came to this interpretation. Walls, however, grew organically. I remember many a time, curled up on my childhood bed, raging and in tears, repeating over and over: ”I need nothing; […]

Monday Mood: bursting

It started Thursday evening when we picked up our 10-year-old granddaughter for a dinner out. The conversation was lively and I learned so much about the world from her perspective. Then Saturday, our oldest daughter announced she was playing her first ever hockey game, so we drove to the city to watch. I didn’t even […]

Be As the Bloom

Are we awakebarely breathing? Mounting raucousshattering sensibility Hatred buildingrights withering Who will survive? I, chirps the solo bloom Timid-voicedoverlooked radiant in her fragilityconfident Breathe (Art my own)