Connection as the energy that exists between people when they feel seen, heard, and valued; when they can give and receive without judgment; and when they derive sustenance and strength from the relat...
You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them. —Maya Angelou
You are only free when you realize you belong no place—you belong every place—no place at all. The price is high. The reward is great.
Yes, we are totally exposed when we are vulnerable. Yes, we are in the torture chamber that we call uncertainty. And, yes, we’re taking a huge emotional risk when we allow ourselves to be vulnerable....
Writer Mary Jo Putney says, What one loves in childhood stays in the heart forever.
When we stop caring about what people think, we lose our capacity for connection. When we become defined by what people think, we lose our willingness to be vulnerable. If we dismiss all the criticism...
When I let go of trying to be everything to everyone, I had much more time, attention, love, and connection for the important people in my life.
What’s the difference between shame and guilt? The majority of shame researchers and clinicians agree that the difference between shame and guilt is best understood as the differences between I am bad...
We’re sick of being afraid and we’re tired of hustling for our self-worth. We want to be brave, and deep inside we know that being brave requires us to be vulnerable.
We either own our stories (even the messy ones), or we stand outside of them—denying our vulnerabilities and imperfections, orphaning the parts of us that don’t fit in with who/what we think we’re sup...
Until both men and women are allowed to be who we are rather than who we are supposed to be, it will be impossible to achieve freedom and equality.
Trying to escape media influences in today’s culture is as feasible as trying to protect ourselves from air pollution by not breathing.
Tonight we will exhale and teach. Now it’s time to inhale. There is the in-breath and there is the out-breath, and it’s easy to believe that we must exhale all the time, without ever inhaling. But the...
There’s a quote that I share every time I talk about vulnerability and perfectionism. My fixation with these words from Leonard Cohen’s song Anthem comes from how much comfort and hope they give me as...
There are too many people today who instead of feeling hurt are acting out their hurt; instead of acknowledging pain, they’re inflicting pain on others. Rather than risking feeling disappointed, they’...
The special courage it takes to experience true belonging is not just about braving the wilderness, it’s about becoming the wilderness. It’s about breaking down the walls, abandoning our ideological b...
The real questions for parents should be: Are you engaged? Are you paying attention? If so, plan to make lots of mistakes and bad decisions. Imperfect parenting moments turn into gifts as our children...
The new cultural belief that everything should be fun, fast, and easy is inconsistent with hopeful thinking. It also sets us up for hopelessness. When we experience something that is difficult and req...
The mark of a wild heart is living out the paradox of love in our lives. It’s the ability to be tough and tender, excited and scared, brave and afraid—all in the same moment. It’s showing up in our vu...
The irony is that we attempt to disown our difficult stories to appear more whole or more acceptable, but our wholeness—even our wholeheartedness—actually depends on the integration of all of our expe...