Category: Notes from Life

There was a time I thought being a parent meant shaping my children into something—a version of what I’d always hoped to be or what I thought would keep them safest. I carried dreams I didn’t get to live out, and without meaning to, I placed them like little weights on their shoulders. Until I…

You are not trapped in the version of yourself you used to be.Not the girl who stayed silent. Not the woman who gave too much. Not the person who tolerated what hurt just to keep the peace. You’re allowed to want different things now. You’re allowed to ask for what you couldn’t before. You’re allowed…

For years, I thought I just didn’t have enough willpower. That if I could just stick to the plan, the cleanse, the 30-day “fix,” I’d finally be enough. But the truth is, diet culture was never meant to make me feel good—it was designed to keep me chasing a version of myself that was never…

I used to think that parenting had to follow a script—the one handed down, often silently, through generations. A script built on fear, control, silence, or survival. But somewhere along the way, I realized something powerful: I am allowed to raise my children differently from how I was raised. That doesn’t mean I don’t respect…

You don’t need to be perfect to deserve kindness. You don’t have to have it all figured out to take up space. You can be grieving, confused, angry, tired, or afraid—and still be deserving of love, respect, and gentleness. We live in a world that often rewards polished versions of ourselves. But healing, growing, and…

I used to think being soft made me fragile. That my tenderness, my empathy, my gentle ways of showing up in the world were things I needed to toughen up or tuck away. Especially after heartbreak. Especially after betrayal. Especially after being misunderstood so many times. But softness isn’t the opposite of strength—it’s proof of…

Respecting my child’s autonomy isn’t some modern parenting fad or gentle-parenting hashtag. It’s a deep biological and moral truth. From the moment a child begins to reach, crawl, speak, and explore, they are wired to grow into themselves. They’re not extensions of us. They are their own people, becoming, unfolding, changing—just like every other living…

Being divorced doesn’t mean you’re broken. It doesn’t make you less worthy of love, less capable of joy, or less whole. It simply means you’ve lived through something hard. You committed. You hoped. You tried. And when things didn’t work out, you kept going. There’s a quiet kind of courage in that. In starting over….

There’s something so grounding about finally realizing that love doesn’t need to feel like magic to be real. You’re not chasing some perfect story with glitter and fireworks and flawless moments. You’re not waiting to be “rescued” or hoping someone will sweep in and fix everything. That’s not love—that’s fantasy. Real love, the kind that…