We can own our story, where we’ve come from, the mistakes and struggle we’ve walked through, shame and judgement-free. We can name our pain, grief, and trauma and remember that they are not our identity. We’re allowed to point out the conditioning that has caused us harm, the ways we’ve learned to feel safe, feel loved, and get our needs met, be proud of ourselves for surviving and getting this far, and choose a new brave and hopeful path forward.
When we feel safe or resourced enough and ready to shake things up, we can choose to write and embody a new story for our life.
We are strong enough to do this
We are strong enough to do this. Strong enough to reclaim our voice and agency, to set new healthy boundaries, and learn to honor our wiring. Strong enough to face head-on both the uncomfortable consequences and the amazing gifts of choosing a life of wholeness and freedom. We are strong enough to learn to live around our deep grief, to be messy and in progress, and intentionally handcraft a brave and beautiful life.
I know this often doesn’t feel true in the moment. Life can be incredibly hard, in some seasons more than others. But we don’t have to figure it all out at once. One breath at a time, one moment or hour at a time, we walk out our values and vision. We find our way in action, not before.
You are strong enough to do this work, friend. We don’t have to be perfectly strong, always strong, or independently strong. Just strong enough in every moment to take one more breath, one more step forward, send one quick text asking for help when we feel like we’re drowning, or say yes one more time to the leading of our inner wisdom.
And here’s some really good news: we grow into the strength that we need for every season.
what does it mean to embody A NEW STORY?
The dictionary defines “embodiment” as “the representation or expression of something in a tangible or visible form.” Somatic teacher Prentis Hemphill teaches that “embodiment is what is currently practiced or habituated in us. It is also the process of becoming more aware of and practiced in behaviors.”
There are times in life where we come up to a crossroads or significant choice-point – the messy middle season of life is a common time for this.
We come to the end of ourselves or the end of the story we’ve been living. We sense it. We feel it deep in our bones. We might have no idea what it’s going to look like or how to get from here to there.. but it isn’t our business to see the end. It’s our business to decide if we’re going to listen to the inner voice of direction or not.
This is a pivotal time in life in which we must exercise our power of choice, our agency, and choose our path forward. Choose our response to the reality of life.
Old wounds can be stitched up. Old instinctual patterns of thought, emotion, and behaviour can be replaced with new patterns. Shaming or limiting stories can be rewritten. We can break out of the chains and spaces that have held us small, down, in fear and judgment, or told us we need to hide parts of our true self for belonging. We can stop living on auto-pilot, bent on people-pleasing, or obsessed with looking for wisdom outside of ourselves.
We can acknowledge the reality of what is, the joy and the pain, and turn our heart forward to write and embody a new vision for our self and our life.
You’re not done yet. Keep writing.
We can’t grieve our losses until we name them.
Linda Thai
10 posts to help you reclaim your voice and agency and embody a new story for your life
REMEMBER: To walk in freedom and feel safe, at home, and joyful in your body and your life you must reclaim your voice and your agency, embody a new story for your life, offer your light, and trust that we grow into the strength that we need for each season.
HOW TO SHOW UP WITH STRENGTH WHEN YOU MUST BEGIN AGAIN
Forced or willingly there come times in life when familiar ground falls away and we are thrust into turbulence or transition and must begin again. Read the full post here.
40 Interesting Ways You Can Take action to Get Unstuck
Feeling stuck can be a signal that you’re listening in enough to realize you are being called into deeper self-awareness, toward growth or shedding what no longer serves. If you’re feeling stuck, you have work to do. You’re being called to wake up and pay attention. Read the full post.
How to Be Fully Alive: Slow Downward, Recalibrate ANd Begin Again
Coming Summer 2022. In the meantime enjoy a free workshop and learn how to feel safe, at home, and joyful in your body and your life. Enjoy the workshop!
7 Self-Care Practices for When Life Feels Painful
In painful seasons of life when it feels like we’re drowning it can feel incredibly hard to see our way forward. These 7 self-care practices help me show up when life is painful. Read the full post here.
IT TAKES COURAGE TO BECOME WHO YOU REALLY ARE
None of us have truly “easy” lives. We all encounter struggle and opportunity to sink or rise above. We each receive the same invitation to growth. Life will happen either way, but our experience of life will vary wildly depending on whether or not we accept the invitation. Read the full post.
TURNING 50: CLOSING OUT A DECADE OF STRENGTH AND STRUGGLE
The past decade of my life has been full of sorrow and pain, practicing strength and bravery, but joy, adventure, deep growth, and day upon day of ordinary beauty too. It all came tangled up together and I’ve decided to embrace it all. If I want to live fully, I see no way around this. Read the full post.
You Can write and embody a new story for your life
I saw myself carrying sloppy buckets of joy, one in each hand. They splashed over onto my bare feet as I slowly walked up the grassy path. Moments before I saw in my mind’s eye a big gaping wound being stitched up and *heard* the clear, resounding thought: “this is no longer your story. You will write a new story.” Read the full post.
a journey TO FREEDOM OR HOW TO BECOME REAL
I suspect when most people envision a life of freedom, it mostly looks neat and tidy, shiny, orderly, all wrapped up with a big, bright bow. But what if REAL FREEDOM, in actuality, feels much more like messiness, adventure, risk-taking, stretching, questioning, fighting, releasing, allowing, receiving, savouring, and trusting? Read the full post.
TO THE LATE BLOOMERS: IT’S NOT TOO LATE
If you feel like you’ve missed the boat, or haven’t ‘made it’ yet, I want to encourage you to reframe this. Instead, look at the remaining years of your life as full of opportunity, no matter what your past looks like. You get to bloom, more than once, and when you are ready, not when the world thinks you should. Read the full post.
How to Hold Space Without Losing Yourself in the Process
Based on my lived experience and my coaching and health education work, I explore what it means to hold space, how to know if you’re the right person to hold space for another, and 5 ways to hold space without losing yourself in the process. Read the full post.
ARE YOU READY TO SHAKE THINGS UP IN YOUR LIFE? JOIN THE BRAVE + BEAUTIFUL COMMUNITY!
Our theme this year is BEGIN AGAIN: we’ll explore this through the lens of Rewilding + Restoring self-leadership, Recommitting to our values, vision + full expression of who we are, and Rebranding Middle Age.
NOW WHAT? RESOURCES TO HELP YOU live whole and brave and embody a new story for your life
Take another intentional step.
join other brave, weary, and curious women doing their own work
The Brave and Beautiful Membership Community is one way that as brave, curious, and weary women+ in the messy middle of life we can gather together, forge healthy relationships, and practice choosing our response to life. You’ll receive quality evidence-based education, weekly coaching, and an invitation to quarterly workshops to nourish and strengthen you mind, emotion, and body. The BB provides connection with other interesting and growth-minded humans from different corners of the world and can help us live healthier and joyful lives because the journey is best made in brave community. Learn more or join the waitlist here.
let’s work together through private coaching
Acknowledge your agency and power of choice and use it to build a life and world you want to live in. Recognize that we grow into the strength we need and find our way in action, not before. Develop strategies for getting unstuck when needed and take responsibility for learning the tools that will allow you to write and embody a new story for your life. Learn how we can work together.