Seeing Susan Stirling

Sometimes a picture says a thousand words… superhero, attitude, and a well-earned downtimes.

With last nights moon and not one but two flying bats in my back yard…this fits.

Enough said:)

Happy August long weekend! 🦇🥂

Summer is for fun… and we’re celebrating! 🍋

Good food, games, plenty of laughter and definitely gingham…

Here’s to sunshine, friendship, and making the most of these long summer evenings.

Who’s ready for a little summer fun? 💛

While reorganizing my office yesterday, I came across a photo of my iris taken last summer.

The assessment read:
✨ Theme: Songbird
✨ Credo: I Create
✨ Season: Summer
✨ Position: Externalization

It also described me as adaptable, delicate, creative, intuitive, and expressive. How True. Andrew and I both laughed out loud when we read these words.

Whether or not you believe these kinds of assessments, I found it fascinating—especially while writing about Grounded Spirituality, Unfolding. Sometimes the things we rediscover…

What have you rediscovered lately that caught your attention?

A fun moment from the author event hosted by TSPA! 📚💋 They spotted an opportunity to have a little fun with the word Kiss… and they definitely took it! 😂

For the record, there’s no Velcro on this side of the book. 😉

Happy Summer Everyone!

My gentle reminder for the summer: your worth isn’t measured by comparison because it really is found in authenticity!

it out loud

For me I’m going to see how many bodies of water 💦 my feet can go into…

How many picnics I charcuterie…

And how many sunsets I can take in…

💛
out Loud

I wrote my story for many reasons. Today, I’m thinking about where I came from and the questions I carried while writing it especially wondering how my story would be received by family.

The review above is from my aunt, someone I’m deeply grateful to have reconnected with. Her words remind me that telling the truth about our lives doesn’t have to create distance—it can also create understanding, healing, and connection.

Sometimes the people we worry most about hearing our story become part of its healing.

For that, I’m incredibly thankful. 💛

I wrote my story for many reasons, and this review captures one of them perfectly.

Velcro Kisses is for anyone who has experienced religious, spiritual, relational, or emotional trauma and felt alone in it.

If my story helps even one person feel seen, validated, and hopeful that healing is possible, then sharing it was worth it. 💛

VelcroKisses

One of the reasons I wrote my story was for therapists, counsellors, and helping professionals to better understand what it actually feels like to survive religious and spiritual trauma from the inside out.

Not just the beliefs.
Not just the behaviours.

Sometimes being trauma informed is only the beginning of understanding religious trauma.

There are layers of fear, conditioning, grief, identity loss, nervous system responses, and silencing that many survivors carry for years.

Being seen accurately can change everything.

Hearing this from someone with religious or spiritual trauma who says Velcro Kisses impacted them … that stays with me.

It’s one of the reasons I wrote my story.

Thank you for reading. Thank you for sharing your heart with me.💛