I did it… I wore a crop top out in public while I was working, doing freelance delivery work. Driving and getting back to deliveries was already a huge deal because I was in a car accident back in May and I’m still recovering, physically and mentally... But what better way to do those things than to add self love into the mix by facing another challenge that Ive already been working on for quite some time... one I’ve had my whole life: confidence in my body. Well, that confidence is growing… mmmmm peaking is a better descriptive word ✨️💪😌🙏 We do recover 🙌💪🎉 This healing work has turned my mind around, one release at a time… one baby step at a time. Or one leap. Each level of this onion I’m peeling has had different measurements, but they all lead ahead.. even the ones that feel like you’re going backward.

We talk a lot about protecting our peace. But sometimes protecting your peace means something much less glamorous: Stop giving VIP access to people who bring discount-store energy. 😂 You don't need people who turn every dream into a risk assessment, every idea into a criticism, and every possibility into a list of reasons why you shouldn’t. And no, this doesn’t mean surrounding yourself with people who agree with everything you do. We need people who can tell us when we’re being ridiculous without making us feel ridiculous for dreaming. There’s a huge difference. So choose people who make you think bigger, laugh harder, recover faster and occasionally say: “Let’s do it and see what happens.” Life already comes with enough chronic meh. You don't need to subscribe to it. ✨

Sometimes it's not the trauma itself that we recognize. It's all the layers we've built on top of it. Imagine spending years learning to fight, run, freeze, or please others just to feel some sense of safety. Now imagine experiencing pieces of all those responses at once. Wanting to speak but feeling unable to find the words. Wanting to leave but being afraid of what happens if you do. Wanting to defend yourself while also trying to keep the peace. And after years of living through different experiences, those reactions can become so familiar that you don't even recognize them anymore. You might call it your personality. Your attitude. Overthinking. Being too emotional. Or maybe you don't have a name for it at all. Because underneath one layer is another experience. Another feeling. Another way you learned to get through something. And sometimes you don't realize how much you've been carrying until you begin getting curious about what's underneath. Not to judge it. Not to force yourself to change it. But to finally give yourself space to recognize it. What if some of the feelings you've struggled to understand are feelings you've never really had the space to explore? Healing can begin with curiosity. 💜

I’m a bigger girl, and I’ve had a complicated relationship with my weight and what I wear for a long time. But the healing work I’ve been doing is helping me feel closer to myself than I ever have. Yesterday, I was dancing in a tank top, looking at my reflection, and felt the urge to lift it into a crop top. I did...and it felt amazing. I was excited to go out with my friends and my boyfriend dressed that way. But before he even knew that’s what I wanted, I put a tee shirt on over it. He had put on dress pants, which felt funny because lately I’ve often been the one dressing up in a dress. We joked about the irony, and I showed him the tank top underneath. I said, “Well, this is how I really want to go.” He laughed and said people might make fun of me. I laughed too and wondered out loud what they might say. Later, we talked more seriously. He said he’d feel the need to step in if someone was rude, and asked me to consider how that might affect him too. I heard him...and I also noticed that I’d covered up before he even knew I was considering going out that way. I’d felt good in what I was wearing, then changed before anyone else had a chance to react. I’m still sitting with that. Was I protecting myself? Avoiding someone else’s discomfort? And how do I make room for my own choice without turning it into a reaction? One thing I know: I want to buy a bunch of crop tops now, even though the weather is about to get cold. 😂 That may be the rebel in me talking...but I also love the feeling of not hiding. Maybe I’ll wear one tomorrow. Maybe I’ll take my time. Either way, I want the choice to come from being connected to myself. Where do you notice yourself wanting to express more of who you are...and what helps you tell the difference between a choice that feels true and a reaction to pressure?

what is the best way to stop thinking negative thoughts?