A few weeks ago, something happened that triggered me. By "triggered", I don't mean being overly sensitive or easily offended (as the word seems to suggest these days). I mean that something happened, which was so reminiscent of a traumatic ...
You know the feeling: someone announces good news on social media and suddenly you feel a pang of envy—that odd combination of admiration mixed with insecurity and the sense of feeling threatened by someone else's success, while simultaneously feeling ashamed of yourself for feeling this way in the first place. It's so easy to fall ...
As children, many of us learned that self-abandonment was the way to gain approval and love, and that we were responsible for regulating other people's emotions, trapping us in a cycle of unhealthy people-pleasing and codependency. While it's easy to hide our true selves (our thoughts, opinions, and feelings) to appease others, it is ultimately ...
As someone who has struggled with feelings of low self-worth for most of my life, I wanted to share an analogy with you that utterly transformed the way I understood the notion of one’s “value” as a human being. I hope this video helps you remember your dignity and to love yourself a little more—especially ...
Soooo... after literally 4 years of sitting on this idea without daring to act on it, I've finally decided to start a YouTube channel. I am absolutely PETRIFIED, but I'm also excited to experiment with different forms media to share my insights. The channel will focus mostly on personal development, with anecdotes from my personal ...
As the new year approaches, we can't help but look back at the past year and consider how far we've come and where we're heading next. For many of us, 2020 has felt like being in quicksand: as much as we've tried to wriggle ourselves free, we can't help but feel somewhat stuck. Many of ...
At the start of 2020, people used the hashtag #2020vision to describe how they would pursue their new year's resolutions with razor sharp focus. That, of course, was drastically put on hold, as we progressed through the very year that would derail everyone's plans. My experience was similar: rather than pursuing my goals with absolute ...
Today is officially the first day of Advent and the countdown to Christmas, which means it's a brand new year on the Church's liturgical calendar. At times like this, I can't help but reflect on how the past year has been. They say the word "Israel" means to wrestle with God. Well, if I were ...
I used to think I had to have everything together before being ready for a relationship—like I had to be completely healed from all my past traumas, to have resolved all my existential crises, and to know exactly who I was and what I was doing with my life in order to be worthy of ...
Early childhood experiences led me to believe that my real opinions and feelings didn't matter. I learned that the quickest way to gain approval was through compliance and agreeableness, and that I was responsible for regulating people's emotions for them, even if it meant abandoning myself. Whatever would cause less friction, keep the peace, or ...
“Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory.” – Dr. Seuss It's crazy how smallest things can trigger a sense of nostalgia. Like the smell of cigarette smoke, reminding you of the first time you moved out of home to live in that dingy apartment that you adored, ...
