04/28/2025
Lately, in my work as a student therapist, I’ve noticed a quiet grief showing up in some of my adult clients—the kind that comes from losing touch with joy. Not the performative kind, but the real, soul-filling kind. Hobbies they once loved, dreams they shelved, parts of themselves they forgot how to reach. And often, when we start exploring what lights them up, I hear the same silent question underneath it all: “Am I allowed to want this?” 🌱
It’s been humbling to witness how powerful it is when someone finally gives themselves permission to feel alive again. To want more. To create, play, dance, rest, explore—not because anyone said they could, but because they remembered they can. That realization made me think about how many places in my own life became stagnant because I was waiting. Waiting for an unspoken invitation to just be who I already knew myself to be. 🕊️
The people we keep close, the spaces we inhabit, the messages we absorb—they shape us. And if we’re not careful, they can convince us to shrink, to doubt, to delay the parts of ourselves that most need to breathe. Waiting for permission in environments that don’t see you—or worse, refuse to—is a slow erosion of self. But here’s the truth I keep coming back to: you are the invitation. No one else gets to authorize your joy, your voice, your fullness. ✨
So here’s your reminder: if you’ve been holding back, waiting for a sign, let this be it. You don’t need permission to be whole. Reclaim the things that bring you life. Revisit the parts of you that feel the most like home. Give yourself a yes. 💫
