B Y A L E X A N D R A H A R T L E Y - L E O N A R D
“You'll always be 'young ' in someone's eyes and 'old ' in someone else's eyes, 'talented ' to a friend and 'terrible ' to another. The world's never gonna agree on a definition of what you are, so you might as well ignore that stuff and be whatever you wanna be for yourself.” - Nikiforcvs “Build a life built on choice, rather than the momentum of the past” - Rod Stryker “And now it’s like this…” - Becky Vollmer “In order to love who you are, you can’t hate the experiences that shaped you.” - Spiritual AF Deck “There is freedom waiting for you,- On the breezes of the sky,- And you ask "What if I fall?" - Oh but my darling - What if you fly?” - Eric Hanson “Be kind to past versions of yourself that didn’t know the things you know now.” - @yogismood There is no escaping - “Wherever you go, there you are.” - Jim Russell “If you don’t make time for your wellness, you will be forced to make time for your illness. Read that again.” - unknown “I think of myself as on a mission to recover the truest version of myself.” - Holly Whitaker “Everything stops mattering. It’s just a tiny tiny tiny life.” - Augustan Bouroughs on HOME podcast describing what drinking is like in addiction. “Consider how hard it is to change yourself and you'll understand what little chance you have in trying to change others.” - Jacob M. Braude “My first addiction was “acceptance”. After being ostracized in school, I did whatever I had to in order for people to accept me.” - Tamara Murphy “It’s like you’re playing chicken with the terrible thing that might happen.” - Sarah Hepola (on HOME podcast - at the end of her drinking, imagining the rock bottom possibilities…)
I spent way too much time “auditioning” for other people. I realized it both robs you of the opportunity to be authentic ( which is all I really want ) and potentially attracts the wrong people. By presenting a charade in order to win approval - you’re now left with someone who has a misinformed perception of you.. And what have you “won”? They now want more of what you offered, but you don’t want to deliver. One- because there’s only so much pretending inside of you (and pretending is exhausting). And two- because you likely don’t actually click with someone that likes the pretend version of you. You want the people who are attracted to the real you. The real you that’s easy to be… BECAUSE IT *IS* YOU. The other way- you may “win” the audition, but again- what have you really won? - me (Alexandra Hartley-Leonard) “Honour the space between no longer and not yet.” - Nancy Levin “Expectations are resentments in construction.” “No.” - is a full sentence.” “Belonging is a practice that requires us to be vulnerable, get uncomfortable, and learn how to be present with people without sacrificing who we are. When we sacrifice who we are, we not only feel separate from others, but we even feel disconnected from ourselves." - Dr. Brene Brown “What lies behind us and what lies in front of us are small matters compared to what dwells within us.” - Jon Kabat Zinn “I was never addicted- to one thing; I was addicted to filling - a void - within myself - with things other - than my own love” - yung pueblo “We usually need to leave the old without any promise of the new, need to spend some time as forest dwellers, just surviving.” - Marion Woodman This list is by no means my entire collection. In fact, finding (or expressing) these things is perhaps the part of my practice that I enjoy the most. I have attributed all quotes to the best of my knowledge, but please let me know if I misquoted anyone. As always, it’s my pleasure to be sharing this journey with all of you. I’m so glad we’re here . Love Alex xoxo
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