After My 2019 Stroke, I Learned: Surviving Isn’t the Same as Living In 2019, my life changed in an instant. One moment I was pushing through a “normal” day in church, and the next, I was in a hospital bed, my body refusing to cooperate, my mind racing to keep up. I had suffered a stroke. I thought the hardest part would be surviving. But I was wrong. Survival Is Only Step One When you’re in the middle of a medical crisis, all you think about is getting through it, breathing, healing, making it to the next day. The focus is on survival. And survival matters. But once the crisis is over, you’re left staring at a new reality. Your body feels different. Your energy is unpredictable. Your mind is clouded with questions about who you are now. It’s a strange, lonely place, one that many people never talk about. I survived, but I wasn’t living. I was existing. Learning to Live Again It took months, really, years, for me to realize that I had to rebuild not just my health, bu...

  Women Are Tired: The Call for a Softer Life Beyond Trauma By Veronica – Get Your ACT 2gether 💜 Let’s be honest. Women are tired, not lazy, not broken, not bitter… just tired . Tired of being everything for everyone. Tired of holding it together when everything around them is falling apart. Tired of smiling through pain, showing up with grace, and making magic out of scraps. Tired of surviving trauma like it’s just a normal part of life. But here’s the truth I want you to hear: You don’t have to keep doing life like this. There is another way. A softer way. And it starts with acknowledging the weight you've been carrying. The Silent Exhaustion Most of us learned early on how to keep going no matter what. We were told to be strong, independent, resilient. We wear those words like armor but underneath it? We are worn out. We’ve survived breakups, breakdowns, abuse, betrayal, illness, caregiving, parenting, loss, loneliness, poverty, rejection, and more. Yet society still ...

   From Dismissed by DOGE to Rooted in Renewal: Lessons from the Soil After AmeriCorps On April 28, 2025, I received a text message from my project manager inviting me to a "required Zoom meeting." Like many other AmeriCorps members, I joined, unaware that it would be my last official acts of service, ending May 9, 2025. Within minutes, I and hundreds of others across the country were dismissed. Not for misconduct. Not for poor performance. But because the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) decided our roles were expendable. Just like that, my position as a Literacy Mentor with The United Way of Northern Nevada and the Sierras was over. For months, I had poured my energy into helping children unlock the magic of reading. I tested, tracked progress, encouraged hesitant learners, and celebrated every small victory. The work was slow, like planting seeds. And suddenly, it was gone. But life has a way of continuing, and so does growth. Finding Grounding in the Ga...