Mistakes are a normal part of life. We learn from making mistakes and trying again! Practice is an amazing thing. We should be practicing through life so we get better at how we do it, not so we become perfect and master it. If you do master something be sure to keep a learner's mindset. There are so many people we can benefit from and so much more to learn. This is not meant to cause intimidation, just relief.

You are amazing, vibrant and full of life. Even if you can't feel it, I can see it. Underneath all the heartbreak, anxiety, depression and trauma is a strong, confident, vivacious, beautiful human! The universe is brighter and better off because you're alive! Thank you for being born.

Until I went through my own personal experience of racial rejection I didn't realize how I really saw the world. It was a painful awakening, but I allowed it to help me learn to love people better.

Grief isn't easy. It sometimes takes longer than we wish. We can't put a time table on grief. We each walk that road differently and it can get tricky when we try to step in and speak into someone else's process. Always be sensitive. Be their advocate not their bully.  I know there are times I wished I could just get past something and not feel so stuck by it. There are times that something is holding up our healing which can be addressed to expedite our process and there are other times that's just not the case. We must be kind to ourselves during the process.

I still go to church but it looks and feels very different to me than anything I grew up around. I don’t think church is a place to be quiet and somber. The picture above is of me at church… yeah, I get a little wild when we sing. I've been told a couple times that people think I'm high on drugs because they've never seen someone be that way who isn't. I laugh. Yup, that's me. When I say free, I mean that. I feel like the poster child for many songs we sing.

As humans we have different stories, but many times there are similarities.  I'm not looking for the critics to voice what they disagree with, but for those who identify to know there's hope. I share mine and Evan’s story for those who are standing in the shadows, hurting, and hoping there's a way out, to know that in fact there is!