There was a pause. My life took a massive shift. I began my travel nursing career and I have not looked back. Life moved – sometimes faster than I could hold onto, sometimes slower than I thought I could bear. And somewhere along the way , I tucked this space away. Maybe out of fear. Maybe out of feeling too seen. Maybe because surviving takes more energy than we realize, especially when you’re packing up your life every 13 weeks. But the truth is – I’m still here. I’m stronger than ever, both physically and mentally. I’m still gathering fragments of humanity and learning what it means to be soft…

hu·man /ˈ(h)yo͞omən/ adjective: human Wouldn’t it be nice if it was that simple to explain being a human and the human experience? My definition of the word human took a long time to come up with, and an even longer time to accept. For me, human means to exist without perfection. To be imperfect.   Perfection has haunted me since my earliest memories. It’s blocked me from succeeding in sports, it’s blocked me from succeeding in school, it’s blocked me from genuine connections, and it’s blocked me from a successful relationship. Refusing to be anything but ‘perfect’ 100% of the time produced so much fear, shame, inadequacy, guilt, and basically…