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I Don't Know My Purpose Yet, and That's Okay

By The Artful Woman
I Don't Know My Purpose Yet, and That's Okay For months, my only job was to survive. Survive the surgeries. Survive the pain. Survive learning how to live in a body that no longer looked or functioned the way it once did. There wasn't much room for anything else. But lately, something has changed. For the first time in a long time, I feel like I'm getting my mind back. I'm reading again. Taking courses. Asking questions. Thinking deeply. Exploring ideas that once seemed out of reach because all my energy was spent simply making it through another day. And one question keeps coming back to me: Given that this happened, what do I want to become because of it? I'm not looking for a perfect answer. I'm not trying to convince myself that losing my leg was somehow easy or that all suffering has a neat explanation. My body still hurts every day. I have broken bones held together with metal. My scars ache. Recovery is exhausting. But I refuse to let my mind rot or m...
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A 3-Step Daily Reset for Safety, Fear Rewiring & Emotional Healing After Trauma

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By The Artful Woman


After surviving a stroke and a catastrophic accident, I’ve had to rebuild not just my body—but my nervous system, my thoughts, and my sense of safety in the world.

At the very least, I dedicate 10 minutes each morning to anchoring my body in safety. From there, I’ve developed a simple 3-step daily reset that helps me move through fear, regulate my thoughts, and gently rewire how I relate to uncertainty, pain, and hope.

This is not about perfection. It’s about returning to yourself, over and over again, especially after trauma.

1. Morning Safety Anchor (2 minutes)

I place my hand on my heart and breathe: inhale for 4, hold for 2, exhale for 6.

I say: “In this moment, I am safe.”

This helps ground my nervous system and even supports calming phantom pain when it shows up.

2. Midday Thought Flip (30 seconds at a time)

When fear starts to spiral into “what if” scenarios, I pause.

Instead of feeding the fear, I answer it gently:
“And if it happens, I’ll handle it. What if it goes right instead?”

This is where I catch myself from shutting down hope. I notice when I say things like “don’t get your hopes up,” and I practice allowing myself to imagine better outcomes instead of shrinking them.

3. Evening Release & Rewire (5–7 minutes)

At the end of the day, I write down one fear I carried.

Then I cross it out and replace it with:
“I release this. I choose trust.”

I also visualize a future version of myself—more healed, more grounded, more free—and I let her speak to me in one simple sentence of guidance.

This small daily practice has become a way for me to stay connected to my body, soften fear patterns, and rebuild emotional safety one moment at a time.

If you’re going through your own recovery, grief, or uncertainty, I hope this gives you something simple to hold onto.

If you feel moved to support my recovery journey, I currently have a GoFundMe that helps me stay housed, stable, and able to continue healing after a stroke and a catastrophic accident. Any donation, share, or kind message truly makes a difference and helps me keep moving forward one day at a time.

https://gofund.me/681a19086

#GoFundMe #GoFundMeSupport #crowdfunding #fundraiser #donate #helpneeded #financialsupport #medicalfundraiser #medicalbills #accidentrecovery #traumarecovery #healingjourney #recoveryjourney #survivorstory #strokeawareness #strokerecovery #amputeesurvivor #amputeestrong #disabilitysupport #disabilityawareness #phantompain #nervoussystemhealing #anxietyrecovery #traumainformed #mindbodyconnection #somatichealing #emotionalhealing #selfregulation #resilience #lifeaftertrauma #communitysupport #hopeandhealing
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Location: Lake Elsinore, CA, USA

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