Coming Home to Myself

A quiet moment of reflection in nature — where healing meets presence and identity gently reawakens.

That In-Between Place We Don’t Talk About Enough

There’s a strange space in healing that no one really warns you about.

You’re no longer who you were… but not quite settled into who you’re becoming. That in-between can feel disorienting — like looking around at your own life and not quite recognizing it. The barn still smells the same. The feed buckets are still there. But you have changed.

And in that gap between familiarity and transformation, the real work begins.

When Recovery Feels “Off” — and That’s Okay

There were moments in my post-op surgery journey when everything looked fine from the outside — no swelling, no bruises, energy creeping back in. But deep down, something still felt “off.”

That kind of fatigue isn’t just tiredness. It’s the body’s quiet whisper: “I’m not ready yet.”

Just because you’ve stopped moving doesn’t mean you’re not progressing. Rest is the work.

Learning to tune in, instead of pushing through, became a practice. I stopped asking, Can I do this? and started asking, Can I recover from this? That one question shifted everything — from how I planned my day to how I honored the healing timeline.

Redefining Strength in Stillness

Before surgery, my value lived in how much I could carry — physically and emotionally. Barn chores. Housework. Showing up for everyone.

But surgical recovery stripped all of that away. No pitchforks. No to-do lists. Just stillness. And honestly, it rattled me.

Rest felt like guilt at first. Laziness, even. But eventually, it became a radical form of self-trust.

Rest isn’t boring. It’s brave.

Rest became a choice to believe I was still valuable, even when I wasn’t doing. A choice to believe that emotional healing counts just as much as physical.

Quiet Celebrations Matter

Not every milestone in recovery looks like a before-and-after photo.

Sometimes, it looks like walking to the barn and feeding the horses — slowly, steadily — without pain. No cameras. No audience. Just quiet, grounded pride in knowing what it took to get there.

When you stop hiding from yourself, you open the door for deeper trust with others.

It’s okay to celebrate the small things. Whether you’re navigating surgical recovery, experimenting with keto or carnivore for nutritional healing, or simply finding your rhythm again — your wins are worth honoring, no explanation needed.

Feeling Safe in Your Own Skin

One of the most profound shifts didn’t happen in a physical milestone — it happened in the mirror.

One evening, I caught my reflection and didn’t look away. I didn’t brace. I didn’t critique. I just saw myself and felt... okay.

Comfort in your own body isn’t always about physical changes. It’s about emotional safety. Presence. Ease. It’s when you stop managing your body and start trusting it again.

That’s when healing becomes reclaiming.

This Is What Coming Home Feels Like

It wasn’t about a checklist. Or pushing past my limits. It was about moving through the world without second-guessing every step. I wasn’t surviving anymore. I was living.

You don’t need a big moment to know you’re healing. Sometimes it’s the small things done with ease, without fear, that tell the truth.

So if you’re still in the in-between — recovering, recalibrating, or redefining yourself — know this:

You’re not behind.

You’re becoming.

You’re not broken.

You’re rebuilding.

And you’re not alone in this.

Gentle Reminders for the Journey

• Honor your healing timeline.

• Trust your body’s signals.

• Celebrate your quiet wins.

• Let rest be enough.

Whether you're recovering from breast reduction, following a carnivore or keto path for inflammation, or simply reconnecting with your body after a hard season — your strength is already present in the way you keep showing up.

✨ Be gentle with your heart,

✨ Kind to your body,

✨ And soft toward the version of you still learning how to feel safe again.

❤️Shelley