Thanks to the shadows of my past, I have learned that life is really as dark or as light as we want to make it. We can allow our setbacks to define us, or we can define our setbacks. If you spend your whole life looking through your rear-view mirror, you’ll miss all of the beauty that resides right out your front window.

I didn’t know how the years ahead would play out. That the Gulf war was just a preamble. That my friend’s five-year-old would commit suicide before his twenty-second birthday. That I wouldn’t study music or social work; instead, I would begin to write. I didn’t know the pervasive sadness - the black well of depression - that would swallow me during that coming decade. I thought I knew where I was headed. I thought the road before me was clear - unencumbered. I was wrong.

Remember: exercise is simply your body in motion. If you enjoyed monkey bars as a kid, who is to stop you from enjoying monkey bars as an adult? Go for it!

By Srividya Sivakumar. You have been hiding from me a long time.Perhaps in the pages of the book I left unfinished.Perhaps in the unplayed song on my guitar.Maybe you were wrapped in the words I like,like whimsical and love.Maybe you were in the sorrow that cuts me to the quick,and leaves me new and clear and hopeful.Maybe you are the L in love.Perhaps you have been lurking behind bookends.Or maybe you have been asleep in the sentencesof my favorite piece of writing.Were you in the straps of my favorite bag?Or in the ink of my pen?Or the pages of my Moleskine diary?Could it be that you are the gleam in the ring I wear,or the lead in the pencil I write with?Perhaps you are the O in hope.You have been hiding in the sense of accomplishmentthat I have felt of late.Or in the rim of my cup of coffee,once I am done with it.The foil that wraps my favorite bar of chocolatecarries...

If I was to give modern western culture a name, it would be More. Are you not entertained?

It is time for you to start writing a new story with the knowledge and skills you have now. There is nothing more gratifying than growing from our mistakes.

Gratitude is a choice. But when you’re angry, broken-hearted, grieving, or feel like everything turned out wrong, it can be very difficult to choose gratitude. So what can we do when we aren't feeling especially grateful? Use compassion as a bridge to feel gratitude.

The conqueror’s journey does not begin with power being given away for free. The conquistador must go to the depths of the endless end. The hero must vanquish an incorrigible beast and return with its head as memento of undeniable courage. Only then can he return to the world and fully appreciate the fruits of his labor. A journey woman must die a death that will be a story that lives on for ages. A story of dragons and princesses, of lovers and liars, war, peace and change. The warrior steps into the darkness on a leap of faith and accepts what some never see, what most could never mention, much less be heard, as she acquiesces to the unfathomable enormity of her journey. She allows the void to swallow her whole and spit her out on the other side of a reality she never knew existed. Then and only then, does her inner power return with a blazing aura of transcendent...

I live to care and I actually do not mind being an accessory, added on to your larger-than-life life. I do not need to be the center of your universe because I can be a universe unto myself. I just need you to notice that I am here.

It is not until you turn everything off that your mind has a chance to truly give you anything back, and it is amazing what it has the capability to come up with if you give it a chance.

What mattered to me? The smell of him that lingered on a hat he wore. The card he wrote for my 43rd birthday that he never lived to give me.

Truly owning: I am my healing heart. I need me to be more understanding and supportive. Right here, right now, pain and all.

Her wings were always there. She didn't see them until she believed in her strength...She tenderly nurtured the flutter in her heart and she set herself free.

Our stories separate across oceans and then meeting to mingle for grand adventures I wonder if I will search my life looking for the other half of us

Get rid of what does not serve. Let go of what no longer feels like you - clothing, decorations, people...Hold tight to that which brings you to your highest realization of self.

And now I realise the missing piece of my puzzle wasn’t a thing.

And let me show you here the wild fierce and free...

I began to feel again. I was no longer numb to my existence. I was feeling every emotion and cell of my being...

Her voice made tears sprout from the eyes of everyone who heard it and lumps come to their throats and they could not understand why.

What if depression is a reaction, and not the problem?

And it no longer mattered what looks valid about my life to anyone else, because I live from the inside out -- from an internal existence of authenticity, where I am the only one who knows what I dreamed of my whole life, and what now seems to be real on the outside.

“When I want to run away, I drive off in my car.”

I wondered why I of all the trainees deserved the lowliest job – did that mean that I was the lowliest trainee of all? I ran through a list of all the people whom I must then be lowlier than. Or could it be a perverse universal will deciding all this?

So quiet your mind, quiet your heart and listen… Tune into yourself. In this silence, we can hear. Follow that inner voice, gut feeling, intuition… Follow your inner compass.

Archetypes are the embodiment of collective personality traits and personas we all share. Like a Halloween costume, we take on these traits as part of our identities without even knowing it....

Every time I speak my truth and express myself when I may not have before, I heal.

Blessed be this worthy sadness. Blessed be this knowing love. Blessed be the finding home. Blessed be the kitchen slow dance. Blessed be the magical sunset. Blessed be the strong arms. Blessed be the true north. Blessed be the unmet hope. Blessed be the unwavering light. Blessed be the hard goodbye. Blessed be this holy life.

Ask yourself: “What’s the next step?” “How will I get my wish?” and “When do I feel the stirring of desire most and least?” Now before you go and throw yourself off the cliff of desire, launching into hedonistic free fall, pause to check in with the meaning meter.

"When did you stop dancing? When did you stop singing? When did you stop being enchanted by stories? When did you stop finding comfort in the sweet territory of silence?"

We don't just show up to your experience, we actually deliver a message. Then it is up to you to use it. So many women do not. You grief us. Or yourself. Which is fine and beautiful and useful, because it heals the heart.

You are flawed, imperfect, and unique…and that’s okay.

You are more than what you think you are. Start building that trust and do this not by building yourself up then tearing yourself down with descriptive words but by inquiring and turning within.

Am I ever actually going to feel better?

It is not about having high or low expectations for your life. The problems start when we have expectations at all.

We are encouraged to seek the light and chase rainbows, avoiding and ignoring the rumbles of heart ache, the acrid sting of neglect and the painful whispers from the depths of our souls, but what of this darkness that lurks within each one of us? What becomes of that?

"Too much" is a social construct created to keep people experiencing themselves as small so that those around them who are stuck in fear can feel safe. And it is bullshit.

Healing is like reverse psychology. Drown in your sorrow. Never underestimate the power of a single Earth shattering tear. Sift through the rubble.

Life isn’t about cruise control. You are the driver and not the passenger. Get lost. Get found. There will be triggers.

In my counseling coursework, one of the first courses explored my theory of change. How do people change? Do people need to understand why they do what they do in order to change? Is the cause assuming there’s a single, unifying cause key in creating change? Must we know the root of the problem in order to find the solution? Which came first, awareness or change, chicken or egg? As humans, by nature, we question everything. How did we end up here? So close together, and so far apart. I watch as you steadily sail right by. Two ships passing in the night. Your melancholy bellows catch my eye. Only darkness without light.. Two ships passing in the night. ~ Gulliver Gimble What could we have drawn up differently? Where might we have veered off course? It is always so early in here, it is before the crossroads, before the irrevocable choices. I am grateful for this...

For over a month, I got up every morning, put on my clothes, put on my shoes, drank a café con leche, and walked 15-20 miles to the next town where I took off my shoes, had a nice dinner, and enjoyed a deep sleep.

There is no reason to reason. Joy is in that which is not wordy, joy is that which has no logic or explanation.

In one way or another we’ve all been unsuspectingly or unwillingly nudged by the Universe. So, then, how do we manage to weather the tides of impermanence in life?

For me this has been a rapid avalanche of a healing crisis and a wonderful (even though painful) wake-up call. The forgiveness of myself continues. I believe this is the work that will change the structure of our societies, schools and relationships forever. I want to forgive all my hurt and stand as who I am, divinely, creatively, without any labels or judgements.

What type of energy do you have in the morning? What task is that energy best suited for? 8 tips to help you make the best out of your morning.

I feel my unbreakable connection to the Universe. This is an excruciating jumble of pain and joy and reverence, and it leaves me trembling. I cannot extricate myself from it, and I do not want to. I want to sing, and writing is my song. I am perfectly present in the world. There is nothing ahead. Each moment unfurls in a precise and precious cascade of time, as they are meant to. Now is. I am.

Your journey is your own. Unique. A finely woven silver web of thoughts and feelings and creations, like the spider's worthy leg's spinning; you too have worked at your own masterpiece, your own tapestry of life, embroidered it with love and hurt as and when you felt them. It is yours alone to behold, protect and grow. Build your web with joy.

I dream the impossible and I dream the true. I dream of my loving friends and adoring family. I dream of my husband’s smile when I cannot turn to see it. I dream of my kitties purring when I teach and I often dream of teaching when I sleep.

How much time will I spend holding back while they build walls, hoping to contain my Madness (as they would call it) or my Genius (as I would call it)?

Have you ever been so frustrated that you felt your head might literally explode? Jaw clenched, shoulders tight, and pressure rising as you feel like breaking something, cursing or screaming. Let’s explore where your frustration stems from and learn how to transmute it so you can receive its gifts and experience smooth sailing again.

This process of awakening can be exceptionally brutal. Something as seemingly simple as catching even a minor glimpse of our dark sides can be terrifying and make even the most devout practitioner want to throw in the towel.

Change, even if it’s for the better, makes people uncomfortable. Whether you want to stop complaining or drinking, eating or fucking, when you talk about it, people cringe.

It's only now, as I sense that I'm really stepping into my life purpose and that I've graduated from the process of becoming myself, that I see what the food-addictions, eating disorders and problems were about.

I have discovered a beacon of light that was in my back pocket all along. A tonic of sorts for the mind, heart and soul, that can, even in the darkest of days, comfort and sooth me.

This mindset of not good enough-ness and striving to be perfect is ingrained in the mentality of our culture where feeling not pretty enough, smart enough, thin enough, creative enough, successful enough, fast enough, funny enough…

We have to transform ourselves into a more compassionate, empathetic society... We must shed our violent history. But we also need to own it, make it conscious, and atone for it. I remember the young girl I was as clearly as if I left her just yesterday. As an adult, I've gone back and retrieved her from that place of suffering and smallness. I know I can make of anything of my life I want to make of it.

  What is this thing called compassion? As we walk the path of life and as part of any spiritual path, any path that takes into our hearts, we get faced with the concept of compassion. You know, that thing that basically every spiritual path talks about. The word itself means to “suffer along with” someone else. I think this is the very point where we start going off the mark with compassion. You see, (at least for me) compassion means to know the suffering of another. It is a KNOWING, it is a RECOGNITION that mirrors something we ourselves have gone through. Compassion (as humility) grows from the hard knocks of life. Only someone who’s lost a child can know the pain of another woman losing her baby. Only someone who went through chemotherapy, went to war, gave birth, fill-in-the-blank, really knows what it’s like. So as we heal our bruises into...

Treat your hurt like scars. Treat them like your dim, incandescent lighting. Like your trivial, uninspired fighting.

Society has yet to do its job teaching pride in the courage to feel and risk at the same time, pride in putting it all out there.

I know there is a loneliness that can take hold, a loneliness so big that it stretches to the edges of eternity and pushes on your heart so hard you shake in fear that it will never end. I know at times you have hurt so badly that the pain has dropped you to your knees...

Go deeper, below the waves of chaos, drama, bitterness and regret. Set your intentions and rise above the noise of self-doubt. Let go of the voices saying, “You should not and cannot.” Embrace your naked-self with love. Make mistakes. It’s how we learn. Learn to say, no.