Yes, religion conditioned me from a young age to accept subtle abuse in the form of manipulation and control - and let's not forget the wages of ‘not living right’ and an over-the-top fear of going straight to hell. That's enough to scare anybody shitless when you hear it enough.

But what religion didn’t account for was women like me, who burst out of their cages and start living from a higher frequency of love, women who build lives of abundant joy and peace, and women who, once they taste the freedom of healing, don’t go back. AND they want to show others the path!

Here’s the truth I live by now: attention activates, intention transforms, and letting go of the outcome frees you. Add in a daily joy practice…making yourself as happy as a lark, even in the smallest ways - and right there you’ve got a southern recipe for freedom. And it’s not on the back of my grandma’s flour sack or printed on her sweet tea glass. No siree bob! (that’s southern slang for absolutely not!)

Since I began this healing journey, I have:

And since I chose this joy path, my energy has become magnetic. Strangers strike up conversations with me all the time. People email and message me asking, “What’s going on with you? How can I feel like that too?” And the answer is…YES. YOU. CAN.

I know that people are hurting. Women long to be free, to feel whole, but don’t know where to start; and if you have a religious background like me, you may feel you don’t know who to trust, or by the end of the day, you’re pissed off at everyone who crosses your path and you don’t even know WHY. That was me too - I was stuck in the muck, with no clue how to climb out.

That’s why I share what I’ve learned. Healing means digging out the roots, getting clear on what our hearts long for, then bridging the gap between where we are and where we want to be.

Here’s something my mediation teacher, Davidji, recently said about healing and happiness that really resonated with me:

“[We have the ability to] surrender to the power of our own healing: the power of the word, the power of our thoughts, of the meaning we’ve given to things, the power they have over us and the power we have over them.

We are the masters of each moment. We can shift the direction of energy moving through us and release our grip of attachment. We can reach for new expressions to hold onto, and we can open our hearts to soothing and let go of darkness. We have the power to heal and to repair.

If we can connect and know at our core level that we are indeed worthy, and brilliant, and intuitive, and deserving of love & happiness, then we can connect to the part of us that can soothe, nourish, and heal our wounds – our emotional ones and then our physical ones. There is a beautiful phrase in Sanskrit – yata pinde tat brahmande – which essentially means, “as is the cosmic body, so is the personal body; as is the cosmic mind, so is the personal mind.”

And to follow up with that, I say this with confidence:

If you’re unhappy, pick one thing a day, even if it’s 5 minutes, that makes you deliriously happy. It might be an iced coffee or a hot black coffee. It might be your favorite TV show - what are you denying yourself that makes your heart happy?

And to help, here’s my gift to you, sister:
🌿 The Daily Joy: 100 Ways to Find Joy in 5 Minutes or Less
Download it for free, because I love you!

Yours truly - In the Flow and loving you!
Debby