#becauseparadise

Shameless afternoon beach selfie. #whatjob #becauseparadise #luckywelivehawaii #beachplease (at Diamond Head Scenic Point) https://www.instagram.com/p/BxQ7B9lhCnL/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=goz46vthsf7w

News: Hurricane category 4 headed towards Hawaii. Hawaiians: Let's go to da beach and check out the swell! #BecauseParadise #EatPraySurf #luckywelivehi (at Sandy Beach Park) https://www.instagram.com/p/BmoqF_yghY8/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1mhu3oc8r3ve

No one ever seems to move to Hawaii #BecauseParadise, so I can officially say that unicorns do exist, because I'm childfree, not in the military, not a military spouse, not married, and when I first got here, not in school. So much to unpack here. I like to say that I moved here to escape winter and recover from burnout, but when I'm being honest, I'm recovering from Someday. For almost 40 years, I've had to play small and dim my light. I have always been too much in every way for someone. If you know me and my life, just think of what could have been possible if I was operating at 100%? I have stories on top of storied about the things people, especially women, have said to me in attempts to break my spirit. One woman, a teacher, actually said that she wished she could get me in her class so she could try and break my spirit. A teacher. A mother of a girl child. Today I started the first day of my student massage clinic. For 20 years I have wanted to study massage, but I let someone else's limit of perception and deficit thinking take me in other directions. For 20 years I've been going in every direction but my own. Moving to Hawaii has been a reclamation. I have given myself permission to say Yes to what I really want and to take my pleasure seriously. I'm sharing all of this not for commiseration or affirmation, but to invite you, especially if you're a woman, to step into your power and reclaim that which is rightfully yours. People are dying everyday wishing they had done more of what they really wanted. I refuse to go out like that. What do you keep choosing instead of what you really want? (at Kapiʻolani Community College)

I entered into #birthwork the same way I did #healthcoaching, with a desire to reclaim my health and my body without prescription drugs or surgery, to heal the generational wounds of slavery, oppression, and patriarchy, to imagineer and create a life by my design. But I didn’t know this at the time I enrolled at IIN/@nutritionschool. In 2004, I just wanted to feel better. I wanted to stop having life happen to me and make life happen. Choosing something different for yourself, something you’ve never been modeled is hard. A lot of times it’s lonely. There were many days I wanted to give up. But as I was going through the program, meeting new people and building community around the life I wanted to live, the experience grounded me and gave me a sense of purpose. My 20-year HS reunion (#BrooklynTech) was this past weekend and while I didn’t go #BecauseParadise, I was reminded of the two things they have in common: 1) There’s no other experience like it and 2), You can’t go anywhere without running into a graduate or someone who knows a graduate. Community offers a powerful tool for growth and healing. Whenever I’m feeling a way, I can scroll through my social feeds and see what my classmates are up to, reach out to them, or dip into a group and ask for support. When it starts to feel like you’re alone in your journey, tap into your community. Surround yourself with the people who are at the level you aspire to, who will remind you to be accountable to yourself. I didn’t appreciate Brooklyn Tech when I was there, but I now see how integral it was to my development. IIN was the springboard that showed me how to make money and impact on my own terms. Together, they are gifts that keep on giving. #gratitude #bths #bthsalumni #iinhealthcoach #areyouiin #iinhealthcoach #doula #birthworker