PX Coaching, LTD.

Dog sitting Adelaide has me thinking about trust, resistance, and the ways I sometimes pull toward what I think I need. 😂

Funny how a sweet little Beagle and a sidewalk full of food scraps can open up a much bigger conversation with God.

My Sunday piece, Walking With Adelaide. 🐾 is 👇

https://gracemarin.substack.com/p/walking-with-adelaide?r=bl5y5&utm_medium=ios

Some women know the woman you became.

Others remember the girl you were.

Last week, I reconnected with three amazing friends from very different seasons of my life. And somewhere between the laughter, the hard conversations, and the memories, I realized they were giving me something I didn’t know I needed:

A glimpse of myself.

Not the version shaped by motherhood, career, caregiving, marriage, divorce, or all the other roles I’ve collected along the way.

Just me.

Maybe that’s one of the gifts of growing older.

Sometimes the people who knew us before we became who we are can help us remember who we’ve always been.

I wrote about that today. ⤵️

https://gracemarin.substack.com/p/the-women-who-keep-finding-a-way?r=bl5y5&utm_medium=ios

I’ve spent most of my life being pretty good at reading the room. I could tell when someone was upset, what they needed, when to speak up, and when to keep quiet.

What I wasn’t nearly as good at was noticing myself.

What happens when the person you’ve been paying the least attention to is you?

That’s what I’m exploring in today’s essay, including the surprising lesson my counselor taught me about feelings, anger, and the things we sometimes work very hard not to feel.

I knew how to read the room. I’m still learning how to read myself.

https://gracemarin.substack.com/p/what-happens-when-we-start-noticing?r=bl5y5&utm_medium=ios

A neighborhood concert. A local conservatory garden that made me feel like I was in Europe. A couple of dogs to care in the upcoming weeks. Important conversations that reminded me there are still people doing work that aligns with my values.

And somewhere along the way, I started wondering if there might still be more.

I Didn’t Expect to Feel Hopeful is about staying curious when you don’t know what comes next, and leaving a little room for possibility.

Read it here ↓

I’ve been thinking about a possible trip to Asia next year, and somewhere between planning my sister’s PhD graduation in Korea and wondering whether I might finally visit Japan and see my friend Patricia in Bangkok, I realized this trip was stirring up something much bigger in me.

I’m so used to asking:

Is this practical?Is this necessary?Is this responsible?Do I really need to spend the money?

But lately I’ve been asking myself a different question:

What if I just want to?

That question has taken me somewhere I didn’t expect.

I wrote about it in today’s piece.

Sometimes freedom isn’t about doing whatever you want. It’s about finally giving yourself permission to admit what you want in the first place.

If you’ve spent a good part of your life being the responsible one, the sensible one, the one who thinks about everyone else first, I think you might recognize yourself in this one.

I’ve been thinking about the holidays already.

Not because I’m particularly organized. 😂

But because after my parents died, the cadence of family gatherings that once happened automatically seemed to disappear too.

I’ve been trying to figure out what comes next ever since.

I thought I was writing about the holidays, but I realized I was really writing about something else entirely…

https://open.substack.com/pub/gracemarin/p/nobody-told-me-i-could-make-it-up?r=bl5y5&utm_medium=ios&shareImageVariant=split

For years, I wanted a home that looked beautiful.

These days, I’d rather have a home that makes people feel seen.

Funny how healing changes not only what we value, but what we create. 🫶🏻

I’ve been afraid to write about this because I don’t yet have the answer.

But the longer I try to ignore this and push it down, the louder it becomes.

https://open.substack.com/pub/gracemarin/p/the-sacred-work-of-staying?r=bl5y5&utm_medium=ios&shareImageVariant=app

I’ve learned that sometimes the questions we’re afraid to ask are the ones that open the door to healing.

Not because the questions are easy.

But because they are honest.

And honesty is often where trust begins.

https://open.substack.com/pub/gracemarin/p/the-long-way-home?r=bl5y5&utm_medium=ios

I’ve been afraid to write about this because I don’t yet have the answer.

But the longer I try to ignore this and push it down, the louder it becomes.