I am writing to my past self. I am writing to the present you. The you who believes you have deconstructed and now you are on the right path—the progressive path. I am writing to me, who, in the past, wrote to others in the same manner as you are now. I cloaked insults and attacks under the veil of well-meaning advice. I hid accusation under affirmations of alleged wokeness without really explaining what I was affirming nor wanting to... Read more
If you’re not in the arena also getting your ass kicked, I’m not interested in your feedback. –Brené Brown Some of the most impactful feedback—criticism— that I have ever received has come from people I have never asked. I wasn’t seeking it out. It just came to me, with a little bow, and hidden behind it was a deeper truth that I was not prepared to embrace, initially. That is to say, it comes from the people who are not... Read more
There’s a lot of problematic advice being given out by well-meaning counselors, coaches, and writers, as of late, that I really feel convicted to address and try to correct. I am only all too aware of this advice because it is advice that I have literally paid for and now, it has me feeling a bit of buyer’s remorse. It is the finickiness of frequency preference that, from my point of view, looks a lot like supremacy. And if I... Read more
There’s a common piece of advice that is often given to us by well-meaning people. People who just don’t want to see us swallow down bitter resentment that leaves a sour after-taste in our mouths. Don’t feed off of the negativity. Typically, I give that advice as much as I take it (when I do take the advice of others). But then someone offered a unique perspective: maybe we can feed off the negativity and turn it into something positive?... Read more
Want more content? Subscribe to my newsletter so you’ll be the first to know when more content is available! I don’t like how I see myself in you. And that’s why I am repelled by you. I see me in you. I see in you, the me that I don’t want to admit is me, along with the things I do and say that I despise about myself. The parts of me that I try to hide are revealed... Read more
Presumably, there will come a time in life where, seemingly overnight, an entire new lens is placed over the scope of our reality, and we will at long last, realize that everything is a gift. So long as our endeavors are aimed toward revealing our truest self. This realization comes during our walk on the "third path." Read more
You know how you feel when you are really hungry but too busy to take a break to eat? Your stomach rumbles and you feel like you cannot concentrate. And the only thing that will remedy this is if you are willing to stop what you are doing and just make time to eat, and preferably something of substance that is nutritious. But, if you just grab a handful of Cheetos, it only staves of the pangs of hunger for... Read more
Every insult you want to hurl at me to make me feel less-than, I have launched at myself. All of the accusations you want to cover me in, I have already dressed myself in, selectively and intentionally. Each and every condemnation you want to wrap around me, I have already bound myself in—with barbed-wire. You couldn’t possibly hurt me more than I have hurt myself. All the sins you think you can tally up against me, I can quadruple and... Read more
Love is a risk. A risk that will offer no reward if it lacks reciprocity, self-emptying, and desire. If you are reading this however, I believe it is safe to assume that you have found love, despite the risks involved. You fell into the ocean of uncertainty and found a treasure unparalleled to any other. You took a risk, probably without much thought, and found within another something that made you feel quantified by their presence and companionship. It’s also... Read more
The classification confusion that is permeating our society is creating a general identity crisis for all. Labels are meant to divide and so long as we cling to our categories, so long as we justify the use of labels, we will never bear witness to the kind of equality that resembles Kingdom unity. Whether you identify as black, brown, or white—it’s just a label. Whether you call yourself “antiracist”, a “recovering racist” or call someone else a “racist”—it’s still just... Read more
Danielle Kingstrom
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