Some relationships break down because people cannot regulate themselves when their partners share their inner world. Dismissing, defending, minimizing, and avoiding become their dance until it gets old.

I used to rescue people from the messes they made. All it did was keep the cycle alive. Now, I let the cards fall if I wasn’t the one who threw them. Life’s too short, and my energy is too precious to clean up after people who can’t manage their own emotions.

We are not who we think we are.

Empathy is oxygen in a relationship. Without it, you’ll suffocate.

Sometimes, the best thing to do is rest in what is. Things sometimes suck, and no meaning is necessary. Just like the pain of stubbing your toe on the corner of a couch, the discomfort of the suck will pass. We can say, "This sucks, I don't like it.”

The song "Always on My Mind" is not romantic. It’s an avoidant apology tour... I couldn’t risk showing love when it mattered.

Relationships of all kinds can only work if presence is prioritized. This means staying in relationship when things feel uncomfortable. Healthy people lean in with curiosity and try to repair. If we pull away, opportunities for mutual growth and intimacy are lost.

Avoidance says: “If I never touch the thing I long for, I never have to mourn it.”

Some people want to be loved deeply without having to love deeply in return. When you pair this with someone who feels they need to earn love…I think this is the root of the situationship and someone always ends up feeling depleted.

When someone’s identity is rooted in being “broken,” peace can feel like a threat. Authenticity without resistance leaves them nowhere to hide. It can feel overwhelming.

Sometimes people latch onto the identity of “healing” to prop themselves up, not to change, but feel like they’re doing something. Perpetual self-help becomes a mask, an identity to shield them from sitting with their feelings. It looks like progress, but it’s really avoidance dressed up as growth.

Last Sunday, I was in pain and needed to use Instacart. The driver placed a note on one of the boxes. Later that week, I ended up having surgery. Life communicates with us if we are open enough to listen; sometimes, love and hope reach us through the kindness of strangers.

What is impermanent must be loved with impermanent expectations. Otherwise, we suffer twice. Once when it changes and again because we thought it wouldn’t.

You can't expect someone operating at half-capacity to give you their full presence.

I don’t want someone’s performance; I want their presence.

Everyone is exactly where they need to be. It’s not my job to fix, convert, or elevate. It’s my job to meet them there, love them there, and walk my own path with integrity.

I don’t have expectations; I have a way of being. And if someone can’t meet me there, they remove themselves naturally.

Weaponized spirituality is the armor of the afraid.

Love isn’t about pulling someone close; it’s about letting them become, even if that means stepping back.

The ones who carry something deep often have to wander a bit, take the long way, shed what isn’t theirs, and survive things they didn’t deserve. But all of that ripens the path. It makes the eventual clarity feel earned, lived, and real.

People are more than their behavior—they are stories unfolding, shaped by conditions, pain, and potential.

The scared hides in plain sight.

Many times, the unexpected becomes the most meaningful part of the path.

Love can be complicated and still be real. Boundaries can exist without withdrawal. Helping someone doesn’t mean enmeshment. Growth happens in the middle of the mess, not outside of it.

Real healing doesn't tidy people up—it makes room for them.

My mantra for working with kids: Relationship over correction, connection over control.

Show up without attachment to outcome. Love without demand. Trust the unfolding.

Real love is steady, present, and doesn't need to be earned.

People can only meet you at the depth they've met themselves.

We grow through connection, being seen and challenged, and experiencing love that isn’t contingent on perfection.

Change, even when necessary, feels like death to the ego, which feels like fear and resistance.

When we share our light to guide others, we gain much, even if they choose another path. It's a reminder that while we can support and uplift one another, it's ultimately their journey to embrace.

Just because you're caught in a storm, doesn't mean you need to keep standing in the rain.

Love, care, and connection don’t always equal availability or emotional reciprocity.

The forest was shrinking but the trees kept voting for the axe, for the axe was clever and convinced the trees that because his handle was made of wood he was one of them. Turkish Proverbs

Over the past year, I've learned across all life domains that people aren't used to kindness. Kindness or acceptance has to attach itself to a motive. People can't simply be and rest in that space of being themselves.

Deepening your understanding, presence, and compassion creates a space for others to do the same. It’s like being part of a shared unfolding rather than separate individual journeys

If someone really wants something, they'll show up for it.

While people can and do change, history is often the best predictor of future behavior.

Zellensky gives gladiator vibes and the other two are like the whiny entitled traitor.

Thankful that I was a Buddhist way before becoming a therapist. It has given me a natural ability to hold space for suffering. For Buddhists, suffering is an inherent part of existence, so we can sit with it without being overwhelmed.

It’s funny how they're blaming socioemotional learning for poor education outcomes when the entire premise is that dysregulated students cannot learn. This is me last week speaking on just that.

You can fix mistakes, but you can't fix something that never happens.

I wanna know, have you ever seen the rain?

It doesn't bother a narcissist to abuse you.

Be true to yourself. In times of confusion and chaos,people's true colors emerge.It's hard to maintain a facade when uncertainty reigns.Watch those around you;if you have goodness, continue to embody it. While everyone can feel anger or fear, true strength lies in kindness, flexibility, and bravery.

Giving a cat medicine feels like a blood sport.

Life is made of moments.

Calm is contagious, and so is chaos.

Your moral development is lacking if you fear empathy may lead you astray. Empathy is a virtue that demands both character and mental strength.