Relaxation

Dear estranged parent, You keep telling me that you have no idea why your son or daughter has cut you out of their life. You repeatedly tell me that you are a wonderful mother or father and did everything to give them a good life growing up. You don’t understand why your son or daughter

Do you ever feel like you’re stuck in a pattern of waiting? Waiting on things to change or people to change. Waiting for closure or clarity or certainty. Waiting for life to get easier. Waiting for your heart to feel better. Waiting for an opportunity or a relationship or something you think you need to

“Care about what other people think and you will always be their prisoner.” ~Lao Tzu We carefully pick out what we wear to the gym to make sure we look good in the eyes of the other gym goers. We beat ourselves up after meetings running through everything we said (or didn’t say), worried that

“Be soft. Do not let the world make you hard. Do not let the pain make you hate. Do not let the bitterness steal your sweetness.” ~Iain Thomas Looking back, my most cherished childhood memories can be traced back to my rosy mother. Intricate forts in the backyard with Spice Girls playing in the background.

“Not what we have but what we enjoy constitutes our abundance.” ~Epicurus Minimalism is the lifestyle of removing the clutter from one’s life to make room for meaningful living. This can be in the form of paring down the stuff one already owns, forging new consumption habits to reduce the inflow of new clutter into

“There are two things you should never waste your time on: things that don’t matter and people who think that you don’t matter.” ~Ziad K. Abdelnour   “What is wrong with me?” I asked myself. Crying in the dark of the night. “Why doesn’t he love me?” I’d tried to fold myself in all the ways

“When thinking about life, remember this: No amount of guilt can solve the past, and no amount of anxiety can change the future.” ~Unknown I was buckled in on a small, twenty-person airplane, and we were heading toward the runway, when I looked out the window and saw the airplane wheel was wobbling. I gathered

“You’re a liar. People-pleasers are liars,” a friend said to me. I felt like I was punched in the gut. “You say yes when you mean no. You say it’s okay when it’s not okay.” My friend challenged me, “In your gentle way, begin to be more honest.” I believed the lie that pleasing people

“And some days life is just hard. And some days are just rough. And some days you just gotta cry before you move forward. And all of that is okay.” ~Unknown I have always struggled with low moods. I guess that considering that I spent close to twenty years of my life inactive and depressed,

“It is the time you have wasted for your rose that makes your rose so important.” ~Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince Oh, how I loved sleeping when I was a teenager. I would sleep for twelve hours, just as babies do. And guess what else? Another favorite activity of mine was taking selfies until

“Never be ashamed to say, ‘I’m worn out. I’ve had enough. I need some time for myself.’ That isn’t being selfish. That isn’t being weak. That’s being human.” ~Topher Kearby Years ago, my extended family, who I am very close with, migrated from Vietnam to America as permanent residents. Four separate families had a couple

“Never make the mistake of thinking you are alone—or inconsequential.” ~ Rebecca McKinsey I can still remember it as vividly as if it happened yesterday. Our kitchen was small. Only enough room for a few people, and there were four of us kids scrounging to get our hands on the rest of the leftovers. It

There’s little more frustrating than feeling stuck or trapped—like you have to accept things that aren’t good for you and can’t do the things you need to do to feel and be your best. I think we all feel this way at times, and sometimes we do have to accept things that aren’t ideal, at

“I don’t believe people are looking for the meaning of life as much as they are looking for the experience of being alive.” ~Joseph Campbell I was sitting on my yoga mat with my legs stretched out in front of me. I bent forward into a fold, puffing and clenching my jaw as I extended

“Growth is uncomfortable because you’ve never been here before. You’ve never seen this version of you. So give yourself a little grace and breathe through it.” ~Kristin Lohr I was kinda sorta showing up. To the outside world, it looked like I was doing all of the things. I was smiling. I was talking about

“Allow yourself to grow and change. Your future self is waiting.” -Unknown Not to be dramatic, but I really mean it when I say that solitude changed my life. I am an extrovert who loves humans, socializing, and learning from people and experiences. I’ve always enjoyed being around others, and don’t get me wrong, I