The Quiet Grief of Outgrowing Your Old Life
There’s a strange kind of grief that doesn’t get talked about much. It’s not dramatic, it doesn’t announce itself, and it doesn’t require funerals or casseroles or whispered condolences. It’s the grief of outgrowing a life that you once wanted so badly. Maybe you’ve had moments where you look around and thinking about how you should feel grateful, but somethings feels off. Or maybe you realize that the relationships, beliefs, routines, or identities that once fit your perfectly now feel just a little too small. You can make it work, but that too feels off. Constricting.
Can You Heal Religious Trauma Without Losing Your Faith?
For many people, faith begins as a source of belonging and community. It can offer guidance, purpose, and a sense of belonging to something bigger and greater than yourself. Faith can provide comfort through the hardest seasons and something that can steady you.
The Difference Between Coping and Healing
You’ve done the hard work of surviving. This might have looked like long nights, silent days, and uncertainty about what life looks like after everything has changed. You’ve read all the books, listened to all the podcasts, and tried shifting your routines, and maybe outwardly it appears as though you’ve got it all together. But sometimes, even after all the effort, you notice that you still feel stuck. You’re not falling apart, but you’re not free and thriving either. That’s the quiet in-between space where many people find themselves: where coping has done it’s job, but healing hasn’t begun yet.
Sober but Still Numb: When Quitting Isn’t the Whole Story
At first, you expect sobriety to feel similar to waking up. The light is supposed to pour in, right? You might image early mornings with fresh energy and pride that carries you through temptation. And sometimes, it does start that way! But for many people, that light never fully arrives, or it fades too quickly. You wake up sober, but still feel detached. You’re clear-headed, but feel hollow. Life is sharper, but it doesn’t feel meaningful.
Anxious Attachment or Anxiety? How to Tell the Difference and Begin Healing
It’s a common question I hear in therapy: “Is this just anxiety or something deeper?”
When your heart races after not getting a text back or you feel a wave of panic when your partner pulls away, it can feel impossible to tell. Anxiety and anxious attachment can look and feel like fear, overthinking, and emotional intensity. But, they grow from different places.
Why Hyperfixations Can Be Healing: Turning Passions Into Coping Skills
Have you ever found yourself diving deep into a hobby, TV show, or niche interest - so much so that it feels like your whole world for a period of time? That’s what many people call a hyperfixation. While the word is often associated with ADHD, autism, and neurodivergence communities, hyperfixations aren’t exclusive to any one group! In fact, they’re a completely human experience, and they can be fun, therapeutic, and even a valuable coping skills.
Conrad vs. Jeremiah: When a Shutdown Feels like a Rejection
If you’ve been following The Summer I Turned Pretty (like me), you’ve most likely had very strong feelings about the love triangle between Belly, Conrad, and Jeremiah. Some people root for Jeremiah’s open-heartedness and outgoing personality, while others feel pulled towards Conrad’s brooding intensity.
But what makes Conrad controversial at times, and yet so compelling, is his safety protocol of shut-down.
When Conrad gets flooded emotionally, instead of opening up, he retreats. He pulls away from Belly, leaving her hurt and confused, and questioning what she means to him. To someone on the outside, this looks like coldness or disinterest. But underneath, Conrad’s withdrawal is a defense mechanism… which is where fiction mirrors real life.
Is It Normal to Stay After Infidelity? What Therapists Want You to Know
When infidelity happens, your world might feel like it’s falling apart. You might find yourself between an overwhelming desire to leave and a voice in your head asking if staying is even possible. People around you might be quick to give you feedback - “once a cheater, always a cheater” or “you have to forgive if you want to move forward.” But the truth is far more complicated. It is normal to stay after infidelity? The short answer: yes. Healing and decision-making after betrayal don’t follow a linear path.
Feyre, Nesta, and the Spectrum of Trauma Responses: An ACOTAR Deep Dive
If you’ve read the A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas series, you understand that the emotions in these stories runs deep: love, grief, rage, sisterhood, family, and the weight of survival. Beneath the battles and mates, there is something all of us can relate to on a human level: how trauma shows up. And as the story tells, Feyre, Nesta, and Elain all experience their trauma in a different kind of way.
Am I Having a Quarter-Life Crisis? Or Am I Finally Waking Up?
And still - there is something in your body that isn’t right. A quiet sense of dislocation. A feeling like maybe you’re living slightly adjacent to your real life.
This doesn’t mean you’re broken or something is wrong with you, but maybe that you are finally waking up.