“Turn down the volume of your negative inner voice and create a nurturing inner voice to take its place.” ~Beverly Engel
After the abuse ends, people think the pain ends too. But what no one tells you is that sometimes the loudest voice isn’t the abuser’s anymore—it’s the one that settles inside you.
It whispers:
“You’re broken.”
“You’re used.”
“You don’t deserve better.”
And over time, that voice doesn’t just whisper. It becomes the rhythm of your thoughts, the lens through which you see yourself.
That’s what I mean when I say the trauma keeps talking.
Living with the Echo…

Full Circle: Reclaiming the Me Who Felt Most Alive
https://tinybuddha.com/blog/full-circle-reclaiming-the-me-i-thought-id-lost/

“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 couldn’t fully articulate at the time: a craving for freedom, truth, and a kind of belonging I hadn’t yet known. What I didn’t realize then is that this two-year …

The Enormous Cost of Being the One Who Holds Everything Together
https://tinybuddha.com/blog/the-enormous-cost-of-being-the-one-who-holds-everything-together/

“For most of history, Anonymous was a woman.” ~Virginia Woolf
There’s a kind of work in our society that doesn’t come with a title or pay, and for a long time, I didn’t even notice I was doing it. I just lived inside it. It shaped my days, my stress (https://tinybuddha.com/hub/mental-health/), my identity.


These days, I see it more clearly. I can name it now. I don’t only live inside it, but I still return to it—especially as a parent, especially when things stretch thin. The difference is now, I pause. I reflect. I ask myself if I have to …

How to Be Well in Unwell Times
https://tinybuddha.com/blog/how-to-be-well-in-unwell-times/

If you wake up anxious these days, you’re not alone. Between the news cycle, global uncertainty, and the chaos of daily life, it can feel like the world is spinning faster than we can catch our breath.
I’ve been feeling more anxious than usual myself lately—partly because of everything happening in my own life, and partly because so much in the world feels beyond our control. And yet, even in times like these, it’s still possible to find a sense of calm—to create a small pocket of peace within yourself that isn’t so easily shaken by what’s happening outside.
That’s …

The Song That Surprisingly Brought Me Back to Life
https://tinybuddha.com/blog/the-song-that-surprisingly-brought-me-back-to-life/

“Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to loneliness.” ~Maya Angelou
I used to believe that healing and personal transformation required a lot of effort—writing page after page in a journal or getting up at the crack of dawn to carry out a morning routine, to name a couple.
When I moved through a phase of numbness—or the tunnel of darkness, as I now call it—it was frightening, and there seemed to be no end in sight. But one song found me at the right moment and changed everything.
In …

Finding Balance Through the Full Spectrum of Emotion
https://tinybuddha.com/blog/finding-balance-through-the-full-spectrum-of-emotion/

“As a solid rock is not shaken by the wind, the wise are not shaken by praise or blame.” ~The Dhammapada, Verse 81
Some moments lift you like moonlight. Others break you like a wave. I’ve lived through both—and I’ve come to believe that the way we move through these emotional thresholds defines who we become.
By thresholds, I mean the turning points in our lives—experiences so vivid, painful, or awe-filled that they pull us out of our usual routines and bring us face to face with something real. Some come in silence, others with sound and …

Aesop
http://www.quotationspage.com/quotes/Aesop

"Better be wise by the misfortunes of others than by your own."

When Friendship Is One-Sided: Letting Go of Someone Who Was Never Really There
https://tinybuddha.com/blog/when-friendship-is-one-sided-letting-go-of-someone-who-was-never-really-there/

“Finally, I realized that I was never asking too much. I was just asking the wrong person.” ~Unknown
Friendship should nourish the soul. And in my life, for the most part, it has. I have a small, longstanding circle of friends steeped in a long-shared history. We’re basically a real-life, thirty-five-year-long John Hughes film.
However, every now and then, a hornet in disguise has buzzed into my life and stung.
He was one of them. A bad sting.
Love Bombing
Right off the bat, knowing him felt amazing.
I was still reeling from the aftereffects of living with an abusive (https://tinybuddha.com/hub/love-relationships/abuse/)…