Permission Slip to Live

You have permission to heal.

You have permission to feel.

You have permission to be heard.

You have permission to love, to grow, to curate your own space.

Who took away your freedom?
It can’t be blamed on politics or parents.

It can be given to fear —
fear was the force behind the shackles I handed to every other entity in my life: my spouse, my church, my government.

Every day my children ask me what day it is, they know the answer.
According to Mom, it’s “the day we burn the patriarchy to the ground.” (also known as Tuesday). It doesn’t mean I’m teaching them to hate what is white, straight, cis-gender, or male, but it is my way of giving them permission, empowering them to unclasp those shackles and for all of us, when our own arms are free, use that strength to participate in someone else’s liberation.

A permission slip is a day-pass, a temporary thing, until reality sets in when you will know each day that you are free and stop putting yourself in the cage each night.

In health coaching, we try to empower our clients to name immediately what the big, hairy, audacious goal (BHAG) is that compelled them to enroll in the process, and then once…