Personal Journey

What if Joy is on the Other Side of Fear?

September 11, 2025

Unpacking the fear of joy, old beliefs, and the journey back to self-trust A few weeks ago, I was trying to use a new technique we’re learning at school: the DBT “chain analysis”, to understand a recurring pattern in my life: why I avoid looking for a job that I love and that pays well. The truth? I’ve always avoided it. I came to Vancouver to avoid job hunting in France. I started my first business to avoid facing that same fear. I’m probably studying so much now to keep postponing it. That avoidance comes from a deep, old belief planted by my parents: I’m not good enough. It’s a belief so many of us carry, and it shows up differently for everyone. Do you recognize it in yourself? I really want...

Grieving the Time It Took Me to Heal

August 27, 2025

Personal Journey, True Stories

Did it really have to take that long? ⚠️ Suicidal ideation mention Last week, in class, we started learning about DBT - Dialectical Behavior Therapy. It’s a therapy model that includes mindfulness, emotional regulation, distress tolerance, and interpersonal effectiveness. I had never heard of it before - only CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy). But a few weeks earlier, I had started hearing positive feedback about DBT, so I was curious and excited to learn more about a modality I had never explored. (Side note: I’m currently studying to become a counsellor, so I’ve been exploring a wide range of therapy models and learning what I wish I had known earlier.) Then, on Wednesday, something hit me. Two things, actually. First, DBT is a blend of CBT and emotional regulation. I had tried...

Eagle oracle card: See from a Higher Perspective

Am I Overanalyzing My Triggers?

August 14, 2025

Personal Journey, True Stories

My triggers show me where I’m vulnerable, but that doesn’t mean the other person is blameless Lately, I’ve been wondering: Have I gone too far with the idea that if I get triggered, it’s never about the other person? That it’s always something inside me that’s being touched, something I need to work on? I’ve heard that concept in a few different places: The Presence Process, shadow work, projection...

Sometimes We Just Need to Place a Boundary

August 6, 2025

Personal Journey

…Until We’re Ready to Do the Work Fully I used to think that if you were truly doing the work (the deep, emotional, inner work) you wouldn’t need boundaries. You’d just keep breathing through the discomfort, feel your triggers, and find your way back to peace. But last week, I learned the hard way: Sometimes, doing the work means placing a boundary. Since the beginning of the year, I’ve been really triggered by someone close to me. That’s not new, but it resurfaced, clearly the big next piece to work on. Over the months, I’ve realized a lot. Including this: I notice fear comes up when I think of them. They’re 9,000 km away, but even the rare times we talk, I feel fear. I don’t even need to talk...

The Struggle to Show the Ugly Part Is Real

July 30, 2025

Personal Journey, True Stories

Wanting to be seen whole, and not criticized for it Last week in class, we watched Finding Joe, the documentary on Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey. I’d seen it before, probably several times, but this time it hit me differently. There’s this moment that says: “We grow the most with what stretches us the most. When you follow your bliss, the Universe will open doors where there were only walls” It resonated. I feel like sharing my writing is stretching me. But apparently… not enough to open doors. Yet ;) Lately, I’ve been wanting to write something that could come off as a bit critical. When I told my partner, he reminded me that exposing myself like that might attract haters. And he’s right. That thought terrifies me. It’s why I...

To All of You, My Friends, Who Are Presently Suffering

July 23, 2025

Personal Journey, True Stories

A letter from the other side of survival mode I wish I had a magic wand to heal you, or better yet, to show you your way out. I wish you could get out of this storm faster. I wish you’d find what you need, right now. I know how it feels. I’ve been there. Even if your story’s different, your symptoms, your wounds… suffering feels the same. That heavy, hopeless, unbearable place where nothing seems to help. I tried for over 20 years to get better. And for all of that time, it felt like nothingworked. But in 2023, something shifted. I can’t explain it in a clean, spiritual, inspiring way. The world didn’t change. Life didn’t get easier. But it became easier to manage. That constant survival mode...

When Someone Talks Too Much… and It Gets Under My Skin

July 17, 2025

Personal Journey, True Stories

How a small trigger turned into an insight about me Let’s talk about a trigger that came up last week, a small one, but persistent. I just started a new class in my counselling diploma. It’s semester four out of six, and this one is about Spiritual Wellness. The previous classes focused on Somatic Wellness and Emotional Wellness, which I loved. This time, I had high hopes. I thought we’d dive into deep meditations and maybe even feel some magic, a sense of Nirvana, or connection to the Universe. Instead, I got a new teacher… and some internal resistance. Right away, I felt annoyed. I didn’t like his teaching style. I didn’t like how he kept repeating his stories. I didn’t feel listened to. He talked, a lot. And...

Permission to Feel and Express

July 9, 2025

Personal Journey

What happens when we stop repressing and start expressing, safely, fully, and together. This piece comes from a recent experience during my counseling training, one that changed how I understand emotions, healing, and being seen. I hope it resonates with anyone who’s ever felt too much or not enough, and been told to hide. Last month, I realized just how many emotions we keep locked inside because we were told not to show them. Except for joy, of course. That one’s allowed. Encouraged, even. But sadness? Anger? Fear? Those aren’t exactly welcome in most places. On one hand, it makes sense. No one wants to see someone crying in the corner, or yelling in the street. But what if we had learned a way to feel and express those emotions...

Permission to cry

June 26, 2025

Personal Journey

An invitation to soften, release, and be fully human Take a breath I had no idea that so many people, women and men, were afraid to cry. Because one day, in their childhood, someone told them: “Stop crying,” often in a dry and harsh tone. I only learned this a few years ago. At the time, it struck me. But it’s only recently that this realization came back to me, with full force. For the past nine months, I’ve been training to become a counselor. And once again, I’m the one in class who cries. Not in secret. Not reluctantly. But simply, naturally, whenever the tears rise. Tears are my friends. I’ve never been ashamed of crying. No fear. No guilt. Not in front of loved ones, nor in front of strangers. I didn’t...

What About Receiving Empathy?

June 11, 2025

Personal Journey

We’ve learned to give empathy. But can we let ourselves receive it? Take a breath We talk a lot about building empathy. About giving it. Being an empath. Holding space for others. But I don’t hear us talk enough about receiving empathy, especially when we’re the ones who need it most. It’s a big miss. Especially for those of us healing from trauma. Many of us are naturally empathetic toward others, but often, we’re the ones most in need of empathy, from ourselves, and from others. Yes, we talk about self-compassion. And I’m all for it. I did the full 8-week program and loved it. I highly recommend it (link here). But something else is also true: healing doesn’t happen in a vacuum. It happens in community. And this year,...

What if Joy is on the Other Side of Fear?

Grieving the Time It Took Me to Heal

Am I Overanalyzing My Triggers?

Sometimes We Just Need to Place a Boundary

The Struggle to Show the Ugly Part Is Real

To All of You, My Friends, Who Are Presently Suffering

When Someone Talks Too Much… and It Gets Under My Skin

Permission to Feel and Express

Permission to cry

What About Receiving Empathy?

Am I Overanalyzing My Triggers?

ANS Simplified for Dummies: Fight, Flight, and Freeze Demystified

Autobiography in 5 Chapters, by Portia Nelson

full of kindness

Programs

About

Contact

Personal Journey

full of kindness

Programs

About

Contact

Sign up!