kasia laviers

We have all heard the quote: “Holding onto anger is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.” It is painted on wooden signs, shared in well-meaning spiritual circles, and offered as advice when we have been deeply hurt. Society, and often our faith traditions, place a heavy expectation on us to quickly forgive those who cross our boundaries. We are told that "letting it go" is the only way to prove we are good, spiritual, or healed. But what if this pressure to forgive too...

Yesterday, the hills were wild. As I walked a blizzard began to howl across the landscape, and I fought it. I was locked in a physical struggle with my umbrella, wrestling with the wind, determined to keep dry, determined to stay in control. Then, through my headphones, the song I Surrender by St. Finnikin began to play. In that moment, I let go. I put the umbrella down. I let the wind have its way and I simply knelt on the earth, making myself small against the rushing force. The struggle...

The Courage of Aliveness For a long time, the nervous system confuses numbness with peace. When you have spent years—sometimes generations—carrying heavy ancestral weights and surviving in a functional freeze, simply being quiet feels like a victory. But there is a profound, razor-thin line between protective numbing and true, somatic healing. Numbing flattens the world; it dims the grief, but it also silences the joy. Healing is the terrifying, beautiful process of waking up. It is the...