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Purpose

These posts discuss the purpose of life.

The Beauty in the Bloom

If we’re not growing, we’re dying.

It’s true for plants and people the same.

But here’s the deal: Maybe that “death” you’re experiencing right now—the collapse of a marriage, the diagnosis of a child, that change of job or rebuilding of your faith—is there to re-root you. Maybe the messy parts of life yield the biggest bloom.

I know that’s been the case for me. I lost everything that was certain in my life but in exchange I gained true connection.

“New life starts in the dark. Whether it’s a seed in the ground, a baby in the womb, or Jesus in the tomb. It starts in the dark.”
– Barbara Brown Taylor

Don’t fear the periods of no progress. Nothing blooms year-round, not flowers or families. But that’s okay.

Sometimes things have to “die” for new life to begin.

To More Love,

Stephanie

 

by Stephanie Hanrahan Guest Blogs Inspiration Inspirational Words Love Loving Others Loving Yourself Purpose Roadblocks in Life The Journey Through Life Leave a comment chat
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The Mantra of a Mothers Love

Today my six-year-old was unusually quiet on the way to school. When I asked her if she was okay, she replied, “I’m not ready to talk about it,” her face withdrawn and sullen as she stared out the window.

As we pulled into the parking lot, she unbuckled her seat belt and grabbed my neck, sobbing, “I just don’t want to lose you.”

It didn’t take me long to realize: she is me.

We share the same fear.

I don’t ever want to lose her. I don’t ever want to leave. This is the unspoken fear of every parent, although arguably more heightened for me, a special needs mom. Special needs parents feel a particular type of pressure to live forever. After all, who else will love our child with all their extra needs? Take them into their home? Go with less so they can have more? That’s a mother’s job.

I pulled her close, …

by Stephanie Hanrahan Female Social Entrepreneurs Guest Blogs Inspiration Inspirational Words Love Love in Family Motherhood Priorities Purpose The Journey Through Life Leave a comment chat
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The Difference Between Living and Being Alive

I have not died during this past year, but it turns out I have not been living either.

That is what my recent trip revealed to me. That there is a difference between living and barely being alive.

I had forgotten, like so many others I presume, what it feels like to be around people. I had misplaced my ability to relax. For the first half of our trip I felt on edge, not knowing if my body was allowed to simply just sit.

When we boarded the plane, I visualized it nose-diving from the sky. It was such vivid imagery that I phoned my sister to make sure she knew where the paperwork was for my kids should anything happen to us.

These are the ripple effects I didn’t even know were occurring within me from last March until now. This is the impact of having underlying anxiety, a worldwide pandemic, and being …

by Stephanie Hanrahan Community Guest Blogs Inspiration Inspirational Words Love In Action Purpose Roadblocks in Life The Journey Through Life Leave a comment chat
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An Autographed CD and Hope

Here’s my daughter, holding an autographed copy of Taylor Swift’s latest CD.

And here’s the miraculous story about how she got it:

It’s no secret that Campbell is a Swiftie. I’ve written about it at length. But a few months ago I recounted a day when Campbell told me Taylor Swift’s music saved her. More specifically, “If I close my eyes and listen to this song, all my sadness goes away.”

This is the restorative power of music. It changes people.

And it also connects them.

A friend on this page—a stranger, someone we’ve never met—read that story and resonated so deeply with Campbell she decided to send her this signed CD. She said she had bought two, not knowing who the second one was intended for, until she read that post on that particular day—a day when she needed it the most—and it all became clear.

Taylor Swift likes to sing about an “Invisible String,” …

by Stephanie Hanrahan HeartBeats Inspiration Inspirational Women Inspirational Words Love Love In Action Love in Friendship Loving Others Purpose The Journey Through Life Leave a comment chat
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Love Looks Like a Two Door Coupe

It’s been ten years this month since that scared, uncertain girl in that photo packed whatever could fit into her tiny two-door coupe and moved to Texas.

At the time I thought I was leaving a broken relationship with a boy, but unknowingly I was moving toward a better one with myself.

For the first time since I was sixteen, I was single. I secured a random MALE roommate off Craigslist (we’re leaving that part out when I tell this story to my daughter). But instead of being the Craigslist Killer, he turned into my best friend. The breath of fresh air I needed to begin again.

I spent the next year drinking Bloody Mary’s on my brownstone porch, free and alive. I met the most magical group of friends, the kind who don’t care about anything except your core. And I also made one crucial choice:

I did the work on myself—and reaped …

by Stephanie Hanrahan Inspiration Inspirational Leaders Inspirational Words Love Love In Action Loving Yourself Purpose The Journey Through Life Leave a comment chat
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Dare to Dream

We were walking down the street when we spotted this sign:

“Write down your goals and dreams for 2021”

The first two didn’t take me long: forward progress for my kids and health for my husband.

I was going to end it there, but something felt incomplete. I had forgotten myself. It had asked for my goals and dreams, not just theirs.

This is quintessential motherhood: you’re always last in line.

This generation of mothers has gotten the memo that in order to be “good moms” we have to be selfless. And while selflessness is a wonderfully endearing quality, it’s also a slippery slope to be “less of your self.”

And when I narrow my focus, that’s not what I want my children to see and then one day feel compelled to emulate. I don’t want them to view motherhood as martyrdom, I want to model what a full and complete life looks like for a …

by Stephanie Hanrahan Female Social Entrepreneurs Guest Blogs Inspiration Inspirational Women Inspirational Words Love Loving Yourself Priorities Purpose The Journey Through Life Leave a comment chat
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