Have you ever had a cataclysmic life event erase your identity, your sense of self?

Maybe it was a divorce, an illness, or death of a loved one... something that made you question who you are, what your purpose is, and how you relate to the world.

I've lost my identity. Many times over.

Disease, Death and Circumstance... each stripped away a different part of me.

Family. Health. Loved ones. Career. Finances... they've all been taken away, and with them, a part of myself.

I used to be fit, strong and healthy.
I used to be a personal trainer. A yoga teacher. A health nut and gym rat.

I used to be a caregiver. A family member. A daughter. A sister. An aunt.

I used to be part of the workforce. An employee. An employer.

There is so much I can no longer do.

There are so many roles I no longer have.

Who am I when I exhaust all the things I've been? When I am no longer in control of my body or my life?

"If I am not this, or this, or this, or this – what am I? Who am I?"

The only thing that’s left is loss. A tremendous sense of loss.

This ever-growing ache in my heart leads me to spend hours in silent and absorptive contemplation. It takes years, but finally a deeper realization dawns on me…

The essence of who I am does not lie in what my body can do, nor in the roles I play, but in how I relate to world around me.

When I strip away all the different labels and roles, I arrive at the core of my being, at the parts of myself that cannot ever be lost or taken away…

I am someone who lives in awe and wonder of the beauty that surrounds them.

I am a heart whose love and empathy knows no boundaries.

I am a witness to the sunlight that exists within each human being, encouraging them to shine brightly.

I am a soul. A spirit. A life force.

I am a miracle that happened.

I am pure consciousness

manifested into form

experiencing this journey called ‘life’.