I’ve always loved dandelions and honeysuckle. These are wild things; creative rebellion, if you will. Dandelions, for example, are weeds and, if we know anything about weeds, it’s that we generally don’t enjoy them. They strangle our gardens, they grow fast as lightning, and they are stubbornly resistant to death. And, yet, a part of me, buried deep inside lights up when I see one. Blowing the fluff delights me, though I rarely make a wish.

Honeysuckle is also creative rebellion. There used to vines of it growing near our home when I was young, and plucking the stem to taste the sweetness inside was somehow always just a tad magical. May have only been a tiny drop to land on my tongue, but it was sweet and it grew wild. I craved the sight of these things when I was young and even more as an adult. Beautiful, yes, but, on a deeper level, they were proof that fragile things survived and sweetness hid within trauma.

Horses and butterflies and ancient trees all stirred something buried deep inside. These things made me feel tiny moments of joy. I needed every such moment I could find because I lived in the middle of a chaotic and dangerous home where freedom was a thing only found in fairy tales. Between the ages of 5-16, I was sexually abused. The trauma made it hard to believe in beauty–but things like dandelions, honeysuckles and horses made me wonder.

Stories helped me choose to believe tomorrow was an unchartered promised land instead of a threat. Fictional characters lit an undying ember within me that clung to the idea that there was light beyond the trauma.

I have spent a lifetime on a journey to protect, cultivate and support that idea. Encouraging others to believe it, too, excites and emboldens me.

For years, I’ve put all my training (which you can read about here) into standing shoulder-to-shoulder with survivors of trauma. Trauma isn’t only sexual abuse: it’s grief, loss, betrayal, failure, disillusionment. It’s anything that threatens our light. Which is why I created The Storynlight Circle.

The name is important to me. Because, you see, “storyn” is a coined word I invented that almost sounds like “story in” – as in “story in us.” The stories within us are the ones that matter most and that we most often forget to share.

When you’re trapped, all you want is freedom. All you want is to be heard. All you want is to be believed. All you want is a little bit of creative rebellion; a tiny spark is enough to light a heart for life. THE STORYNLIGHT CIRCLE draws upon all my training, and my own journey as a survivor, to share and support you on yours. It’s a chance for me to help others learn about how hard our bodies fight to keep us safe and how our nervous system is perfectly designed to care for us. It’s a chance to express a little bit of my own rebellion because now I know a secret: we can be free. You are not broken.

THE STORYNLIGHT CIRCLE isn’t therapy; it’s a conversation, it’s someone guiding you to challenge the scripts you developed because you needed them once… but not now. It’s a safe place to remember the light within you. I draw on my certifications and training, which includes inner child work, parts work, nervous system regulation exercises, & guided creative expression to dare you to chase the dreams, set the goals, that they said you couldn’t. It’s a space of unconditional positive regard, of acceptance, and of gentle guidance.

For me, doing nothing with my trauma was too painful. Creating this space for others is what I’ve been working towards for years.

It reminds me that we can re-author the meaning of our trauma and create whatever we want to after it.

Dandelions don’t wait for the perfect soil. They take root wherever the wind lands them. They grow anyway. They look so fragile, don’t they? But they can help fight cancer. And honeysuckle? Honeysuckle can help heart health, can help stabilize glucose for diabetics, and overall supports your immune system. Both of these plants hide incredible strength–just as we do. The first step is always the hardest. But resiliency and a touch of wild curiosity asks: what if?

This photo is of my daughters in Greece. The sunsets there are UNDERstated-the beauty stole our breaths and made me dream a little more, ask “what if” a little more. I invite you to explore the pages on the blog here under THE STORYNLIGHT CIRCLE, especially The Journey – and, if you fight your heart beating a little rapidly and yourself wondering what it might feel like to be truly heard – schedule a Discovery Call below.

I am here.
I will hear you.
I will see you.
I will support you.
And I will believe you.