The Courage Project

I had a big dream. Building businesses, growing my family, creating community, giving Henry stability and a good role model.

That dream was so big, I ignored the warning signs. From friends. From my own intuition. I could feel myself losing me - and I let my head talk me out of what my heart and my gut already knew.

I’m not an expert standing outside this. I’m in it.

What I do know: finding out the truth, even when it hurt, was better than staying in the dream. And what’s on the other side of this isn’t just recovery, it’s the chance to come home to myself again.

I’ve been hiding.

I had a session with Dan Burgess recently. And the message was clear: I need to let myself be fully seen.

I’ve been sharing bits and pieces. Testing the waters. But there’s so much more I’ve been wanting to say.

Polarising opinions. Hard truths. Things I believe could genuinely help people, that I’ve been holding back because I know what it costs to be misunderstood.

And that fear is valid. Because I’ve lived it.

For years I showed up honestly on social media. People would message me to say they could see themselves in my stories, my struggles, and my breakthroughs. Sharing my truth helped people feel seen. It helped my clients find me. It showed them they wouldn’t be judged here. That their fears and shame were safe. That I could hold space for whatever was blocking them.

Then in 2022 someone knocked on my door and handed me a thick envelope.

I was being served an affidavit.

My posts had been manipulated, misconstrued, and doctored - used to try to take my child away from me.

There was no real substance to the case. My worst fear didn’t come true. But the possibility of it, and the betrayal behind it, left a mark that’s taken years to fade.

So I got quieter. Smaller. More cautious.

And I’ve been watching that version of me with a kind of grief.

Because the visibility that made me a target is the same visibility that gave others permission to be real.

I’m not going back to hiding.

This is me, stepping back in.

Elizabeth Gilbert says the world is divided into two kinds of people.

Jackhammers: the ones who find their passion early and drill down on it, focused and relentless, for the rest of their lives.

And hummingbirds - the ones who move from flower to flower, curiosity to curiosity, weaving together a rich and complex life from everything they’ve explored.

“Your perspective ends up keeping the entire culture aerated and mixed up and open to the new,” she says.

Both paths are valid. Both have purpose. Neither is more worthy than the other.

Gilbert herself has evolved on this. She once thought purpose was the most important pursuit in life. Over time, she arrived at something more gentle - that perhaps we place too much pressure on finding THE thing, and that sometimes the most purposeful thing you can do is simply pay attention to what lights you up right now.

I love all of this. Because I think it’s all true, at different times, for different people.

Some people have always known. Some people are still figuring it out.

Some people need a single north star. Others need a trail to follow.

However you relate to purpose - you’re welcome at ooooh. 🦪

P.S. there are 3 tickets left for the launch of our first ooooh event on Friday. If you’d like to be part of it but can’t make this one register your interest to hear about the next one. Links in bio.