Silver Linings: The Benefits of Being a Super-feeler

Last year, just a few months into the COVID-19 shutdown, one of my dear friends reached out to me on Face Time. She started the conversation by saying, “I heard someone share in a work seminar that if you have any extroverted friends, you should check on them because...

Relationships or Rules? Which Would You Choose?

On a sunny Sunday afternoon in Manhattan Beach, California, when I was four years old, I was spending a glorious day with my family at the beach. I loved building sandcastles, burying my Dad in the sand, and dancing up and down in the waves, trying to outrun them. I...

Do You Need a Self-Care Intervention?

Nothing says I love you like a friend who is willing to tell you the truth. Even if it stings a little.  Rewind to about a month ago. I was having coffee with a friend, willing the caffeine and conversation to give me the energy I needed to push through my...

The Girls With the Hope Tattoo

They make me laugh until I cry. They have sat with me during some of the darkest days of my life, offering comfort with their presence when there were no words to ease the pain. They have told me the truth when no one else would. They have believed in me, when I...

I Had No Idea

When I was in college, I watched a friend fight for her life. Only I had no idea the force she was battling. At the time, her descent into her illness was almost undetectable to me, as well as our circle of friends. Looking back, now I understand the telltale signs:...