By Michael Davidson “He who lives in harmony with himself lives in harmony with the world.” ~Marcus Aurelius At the end of August I moved to Madison, Wisconsin. This was my second major move in a year. In both cases, I was separated from almost my entire prior social network. After college, making friends seems like…

By Jamie Hufnagle “There is a huge amount of freedom that comes to you when you take nothing personally.” ~Don Miguel Ruiz I was a chunky, shy little girl who was attached to my mom’s leg. She was my protector and served as a source of unconditional love. As I left my mom’s side and went off…

By Nicole Barton “Everything in the universe is within you.” ~Rumi When I was twenty-three, I lost my job through chronic illness. I thought my life had ended, and I spent the next few years an anxious, panicky mess—often hysterical. Eventually, I took off to scour the globe for well-being techniques, and searched far and wide for…

By Monica Viera “One reason people resist change is because they focus on what they have to give up instead of what they have to gain.” ~Rick Godwin Dave and I met earlier this January. I was immediately attracted to his aquamarine eyes and his tattoos. I met him on the eve of my twenty-sixth birthday…

By Bryn Bamber “I used to dislike being sensitive. I thought it made me weak. But take away that single trait, and you take away the very essence of who I am. You take away my conscience, my ability to empathize, my intuition, my creativity, my deep appreciation of the little things, my vivid inner life,…

By Nicole Hind “You must learn to love yourself before you can love someone else.” ~Sonja Mylin   It’s tough being out there. I remember myself some years ago embracing the world of online dating. Everyone kept telling me “be yourself” (and I kept telling myself that), but when I was actually on a date, “myself” would…

By Stephanie Deni Let’s face it, we can’t always have what we want.  There will be times in your life when the person you desire simply does not desire you back.  When what you’re seeking is not seeking you and it can be really devastating and at times, quite difficult to get through and get…

By Sandra Cooper “Emotional intelligence begins to develop in the earliest years. All the small exchanges children have with their parents, teachers, and with each other carry emotional messages.” ~Daniel Goleman I consider myself an expert on the emotional needs of children. Mostly because I was one. No one goes into parenthood anticipating the ways they…

By Anonymous “Never fear shadows. They simply mean there’s a light shining somewhere nearby.” ~Ruth E. Renkel My last breakup was on April 16th, 2012. I remember the date because on the evening of April 17th, as I sat with a blotchy red face and tears in my eyes, my dad told me I soon would…

By Craig James Ruvere “Our lives improve only when we take chances and the first and most difficult risk we can take is to be honest with ourselves.”  ~Walter Anderson Society has a series of unwritten and sometimes unspoken laws they expect both males and females to abide by without question—a perceived set of standards and…

By Berni Sewell “You are imperfect, permanently and inevitably flawed. And you are beautiful.” ~Amy Bloom “Just look at yourself!” “That chubby face, those massive hips and thighs. The stumpy legs.” “No wonder he doesn’t love you anymore. No wonder he left you for her! She is so much prettier than you are.” I stood in…

By Vishnu “Some of us think that holding on makes us strong; but sometimes it is letting go.” ~Hermann Hesse She knew it sooner than I did. And more intensely than I did. I, on the other hand, may have considered our differences but never thought of them as deal-breakers. I tried to justify the many…

By Laura Lloyd “When you no longer believe that eating will save your life when you feel exhausted or overwhelmed or lonely, you will stop. When you believe in yourself more than you believe in food, you will stop using food as if it were your only chance at not falling apart.” ~Geneen Roth I used…

By Michelle D’Avella “Don’t hide from your feelings. Press into them. Learn from them. Grow from them.” ~Unknown There have been times in my life when you could look at my cell phone call log and see back-to-back conversations for hours. I am blessed to have a large support system of loving friends and family, and…

By Sheila Prakash “You, yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.” ~Buddha During the summer, my husband and I decided to take our lovely nieces and nephew out for a day-of-fun in the city. I expected a day filled with fun, laughter, and connection; I was in store for…

By Jess Stuart “To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting.” ~EE Cummings For many years I felt like a fish out of water, but I desperately wanted…

By Ann Davis “Solitude matters, and for some people, it’s the air they breathe.” ~Susan Cain Do you get ticked off too? I mean, when people say you’re awkward, naive, and anti-social. Your feelings get bruised, and then you find yourself drowning in a sea of unhappiness. All you want is to be normal. To be…

By Alexandra Heather Foss “The thing that is really hard, and really amazing, is giving up on being perfect and beginning the work of becoming yourself.” ~Anna Quindlen It should theoretically be simple but being authentic is not easy. It takes gumption to assert with courageous conviction “This is me!” and grace to accept what comes after. From…

By Psychic Danielle Being a Reiki healer, I encounter people with all kinds of issues. The most common one is healing from a heart break! I have worked in Reiki healing for over 12 years and 85% of my clients come to me to heal from a pain that they can’t move on from. Reiki…

By M. J. Ross “Vulnerability is our most accurate measure of courage.” ~Brené Brown When we’re younger, we’re fearless. We don’t mind climbing trees, making friends with strangers, or telling our secrets to people we’ve just met. We open our eyes and hearts to new experiences and people, and we trust that everything is going to…