What does it take? To give ourselves permission to be ... other than the culturally conditioned "self" we're taught to be? What does it take to give ourselves permission to feel ... other than the "appropriate" feelings at the "appropriate" time and length? What does it take to simply be ourselves, and tell the truth?

To stay in the story of what "should" have been would mean that I would have to deprive myself of my own life lessons, thus my own evolution. To stay in the story of what "should" have been would mean to stay in the habit and deny myself the truth of what is. To stay in the story of what "should" have been would mean to sacrifice what is for an idealized, imagined version that isn't. In essence, it would mean I betray the truth that lives inside of me in favour of the story; it would mean pretending, glossing over, shutting down. It would mean self-betrayal. And I don't live like that anymore. 

Declan's birth story!

I am called to BE, unstoried. To integrate my history by intention (both individual and collective) and create, unstoried. Express from that newfound place of being, unstoried. Therefore mindfully design and create the world I want to be in as I go along, without the perceived limitations of the world I believe I am in.

The mad woman rising within you...Once you recognize the gift that she is to your becoming, you’d not be afraid of her. You’d love her, unconditionally, and allow her to guide you into becoming yourself.