A few weeks ago, I was unintentionally part of someone's mini photo shoot while at the park watching my grandkids play. I had no idea I was in the background of their perfectly posed moment until it was too late—and now, somewhere out there, I’m forever captured mid-sip of my chocolate milkshake, (which, for the record, I ordered with zero shame at 10:30 a.m. because adulthood has to have some perks) in their photo album as “random lady living her best life.”

It got me thinking: How many times have I been a background character in someone else’s story without even realizing it? Not the star, not the villain—just the extra who happened to walk by, hold a door, or make a random comment that may or may not have stuck with them. You know what I mean?

I saw this meme the other day claiming that when women vent to each other, it actually helps us lower cortisol, boost serotonin, and build stronger neural pathways. At first, I laughed and thought, Well that explains a lot. Then I did a little digging—and guess what? That meme wasn’t just internet fluff. It was onto something...

I saw this meme the other day that hit me right in the soul:

I read it once… then read it again. And I just sat with it for a minute...

Let’s be real: I didn’t always read ingredient labels. I didn’t think twice about popping an over-the-counter pill when something hurt. I didn’t really think much at all about a time when healing looked different.

But now? I’m asking a lot more questions. And I’m slowly finding my way back to something that feels... simpler. A little slower. A lot more intentional.

If you’ve read my post on how petrochemicals changed medicine, you know that the way we do healthcare today didn’t just happen. It was steered, hard, by some very powerful (and very rich) men with profit in mind.

And ever since I learned about that shift, I haven’t been able to unsee it...

It hit me recently that I’ve never really stopped living in the past—and I mean that in the a good kind of way.

I’ve always been the one in the family who asks about the great-grandparents no one remembers. The one who pulls over for historical markers, gets lost in old newspaper clippings, and secretly prefers a vintage map over GPS. Some people collect souvenirs when they travel—I like to collect stories...