It Begins Within You

07/08/2025

So true. Are you friendships 2way? Do your friends walk beside you and honor you the way you are?

This is pure unadulterated unconditional love. Embrace it! Honor it and be grateful for it!

It’s not about the numbers.

It’s not about having a bazillion friends.
If you can find even one friend who loves you for you, you are blessed.

If you can find even one friend that cheers for you with her whole heart, you are blessed.
If you can find even one friend who reminds you of who you are, when you’ve forgotten, you are blessed.

If you can find even one friend to laugh with till you cry, you are blessed.

If you can find even one friend to do life with you in the messy, the hard, and the real, you are blessed.

Remember it isn’t about having a lot, it’s about having the real deal.

Love,
Jess

31/07/2025

It doesn’t matter what others think. Limit what you take on from others. Your opinion of yourself is what matters.

Here’s the truth:

You can be a really good friend, and still not be liked.

You can hold someone dear and still not be valued. You can say all the right things, and still have someone use your words against you.

You can give it your absolute best, and still have it not work out.

You can be pure as humanly possible, and still be painted as the bad guy.

After years of work, these are some things I’ve learned:

1. You can’t control other people. Not even in the slightest, and it is a complete waste to ever assume you can. It will make you angry, and exhausted, and chasing something you don’t have a chance to catch, so switch gears and control you. Control your mouth. Control how you treat people. Control your attitude. Guard your heart, and keep it genuine. Keep showing up, and let that be enough.

2. Other people aren’t you. They don’t think like you, or feel like you. Their experiences belong to them alone. They approach situations differently, and their outlook is nothing like yours. Don’t expect them to handle things exactly like you do. They aren’t you. They’re them. Do your best to love them for it.

3. Some people are never going to like you, and there isn’t necessarily and a rhyme or reason. Your life will improve significantly as soon as you learn this.

4. Sometimes you’re actually the bad guy. Sometimes you’re the one acting foolish. Sometimes you’re the one with the toxic trait or two. Check your own heart. Clean out the junk, and grow from it. Apologize, and now that you’ve learned—take that wisdom, do better next time, stay humble, and give others an awful lot of grace along the way.

5. There is a purpose to it all. There is beauty everywhere. That failed friendship will teach you how to do the next one better. That heartache will remind you to be gentle with other people. That loneliness will help you appreciate connection when you do find it—and you will find it. Not every season lasts forever, but every season does produce something precious eventually, even if it’s just a fresh perspective.

So sleep well, my dear friend.

Life is a long series of letting some things go and holding others close—a catch and release sort of cycle. Let go of needing approval. Let go of bitterness, and resentment, and any of that junk. Let go of insecurity. Let go of guilt. It will keep you shackled like nothing else.

Hold close to your family and the people in your life who have stuck around. Hold close to your morals and your integrity. Hold close to your light and your joy and your hope. Hold close to today. Believe in tomorrow. Hold closest to love. At the end of the day, it’s all that really matters, and as long as you have it—you have more than enough.

Love,
Amy

10/07/2025

In The Garden of Friendship

May the bonds of friendship unite us all,
not only in moments of joy and celebration,
but also in times of struggle and uncertainty.

May we become a circle of strength and support,
where no one stands alone,
and where each person is seen, heard,
and valued for who they truly are.

Let our connections be rooted in kindness,
trust, and mutual respect,
growing deeper with every shared experience
and every act of love.

As we journey through life’s changing seasons,
may we bloom in our own ways,
each of us unfolding into the fullness
of who we are meant to be,
while still growing side by side.

May we lift each other when we falter,
celebrate one another’s victories without envy,
and offer comfort when the road gets hard.

Together, may we cultivate a space where:
dreams are encouraged,
differences are embraced, and every heart finds belonging.

In this unity, let us not only grow, but thrive,
individually and as one,
nurturing a lasting bond
that time, distance, or hardship cannot break.

For in the garden of true friendship,
we do not simply exist,
we bloom, we rise, and we rise together.

~ 'In The Garden of Friendship' by Spirit of a Hippie

✍️ Mary Anne Byrne

~ Art by Katja Perez

27/11/2024

Great perspective on toxic relationships. Is this what’s happening for you?

Repairing a toxic relationship can be complex and difficult.

It can be done, but by the time most people realise their relationship has turned toxic, it's too late...

But identifying if you're in a toxic relationship can be even more difficult because it's hard to see it when you're on the inside.

There are many traits and many faces that make up a toxic relationship.

A beautiful relationship can turn toxic even when there's still love, but if it's not fixed it becomes an attachment that no longer resembles love.

A toxic relationship is when they always bring up your past mistakes and continue to judge you and punish you for them even though you've taken positive steps to fix things.

A toxic relationship is when they show no empathy or compassion towards you and they don't care about your feelings or the way they make you feel.

A toxic relationship is when they constantly break your trust, breach your privacy, and knowingly do things that are disrespectful towards you and that they know upsets you and hurts you.

A toxic relationship is when there is selfishness instead of selflessness, and everything seems to always be about them.

A toxic relationship is when they want you to make them a priority but they won't treat you like a priority in their life.

A toxic relationship is when they won't communicate with you but when communicate with them, they don't communicate back with any sort of level of emotional maturity.

A toxic relationship is when they never apologise or take accountability for their mistakes, wrong-doings, or the ways in which they've hurt you, but they make everything your fault by deflecting, blame-shifting, manipulating, gaslighting, and turning things around to make you feel guilty for something they've done.

A toxic relationship is when they neglect and manipulate you by deliberately withholding what they know to be your love languages; such as giving you their affection, spending time together with you, and communicating openly, honestly, and effectively.

A toxic relationship is when they constantly put you down, make you feel worthless, and tell you that you're not capable.

A toxic relationship is when everything you do right is negated by that one thing you do wrong; and they continue to remind you of this over and over again, and make out like everything you ever do is wrong and you can't ever do anything right.

A toxic relationship is when they make you feel guilty for bringing up how you feel or how they've upset you, because they always turn it into and argument blames you for something they did.

A toxic relationship is when you don't feel emotionally safe, and you're too scared to express how you really feel because you know they will become angry and defensive instead of acknowledging what they did, trying to be better, and trying to make things better.

A toxic relationship is when they deliberately hide things from you or do things behind your back. They do this in a secretive and deceptive manner to avoid you finding out what they're really up to.

A toxic relationship is when they have deteriorated your support network, restricted or significantly deteriorated your finances, and their abuse has deteriorated your mental health.

A toxic relationship can cause a significant decline in both your mental health and your physical health.

A toxic relationship will give you depression, anxiety, fear, anger, stress; while decreasing your levels of happiness and feelings of self-worth, confidence, and self-esteem.

The way you feel in a relationship is important, but the way someone else makes you feel in a relationship is more important.

If someone really loves and and they really value you and your relationship, they will work together with you to fix things and make things better again.

But if someone doesn't care about fixing things, and they don't care for you feeling respected, safe, heard, understood, and loved; they've just shown you exactly how they really feel about you.

Don't waste your heart, your tears, and your emotional and mental well-being on someone on someone who refuses to see their own toxicity that they bring.

Relationships are always a two way street, and relationships are only ever going to work if two people are willing to be accountable for what happens, and be committed to making things better...

~ Mark Smith