Life goes beyond the house that you grew up in.

But you may spend many years healing from the time you spent growing up in it.

For my sister and I, we have found this to be the case.

Today, we unpack the impact of how growing up amidst instability shaped our lives and gave us mutual purpose to break the cycle of generational trauma.

Angelica is the strongest person that I know - and her experiences are one that I am honored to give voice to on Figuring Sh!t Out.

My sister and I share no DNA. She was adopted at Birth by our parents and has faced a layer of adversity as a person of color that I will never be able to fully understand. We grew up together in Florida in a fractured environment that she left at 15.

Our individual experiences and healing has led us back to one another after being separated for many years in our adolescence. We are not of the same blood, but have been cut from the same cloth, and found our definition of home to be one another.

To be vulnerable about what made you who you are today, even if it is a heavy past that you have learned and healed from - is to be free from letting it define you.

I hope this episode inspires you release any weight from the past that you no longer need to carry and know that the decision to heal is all that you need to begin.

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CHAPTERS:

0:00-3:58: Introduction, Episode Overview, & Preface

4:00-10:15: Sisterhood + Siblinghood, Angelica's Adoption, Divine Orchestration

10:15-15:50: Roles + Trauma Responses in a Dysfunctional Household, Living in Survival, Mental Health

19:03: Leaving Home at 14 & Experiencing Racism in a Prejudiced Town

23:39: Beginning Healing, Reparenting the Inner Child, Letting Yourself Be Loved

28:43: Anger, Forgiveness, & Breaking Patterns to Relearn Safety

39:26: Releasing + Recognizing Coping & Defense Mechanisms

49:17: Chosen Family, Building a Life You Want, & Loving Yourself through your Evolution

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Episode 8: Healing is Not Linear & Life is Now

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