Naturally Rosey shares creative, vulnerable, nuanced reflections to open hearts, deepen awareness, and invite embodiment. By Authenticity & Intimacy Coach Rosey Leopold- for those ready to feel fully, think clearly, release masks, and self-actualize.
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Another confronting insight from my recent Ayahuasca ceremony was meeting the reality that pain is an inevitable part of the human experience.
I’ve known this…conceptually and experientially…but this depth of insight was a new kind of reckoning that asked me to face the small but still existing part of myself that was running from discomfort.
How have I been running from discomfort most recently? Too much reliance on others to help me process, too little self-accountability. Too much attachment to positive goals, too little presence with the challenges of the now.
Sneaky, clever, lingering bits of shadow, hiding behind my bright light…
Pain is an inevitable part of the human experience.
This was a sobering realization, and at the depth Aya offered it to me, the awareness was absent of victimhood. No one to feel sorry for. No sadness to feel. Only a strength to own, a courage to claim, and roots stretching farther than ever into the earth.
Pain is an inevitable part of the human experience.
This is relevant here…a wise quote, “Pain is mandatory, suffering is optional.”
Pain and suffering are often entangled… Rather than go into a philosophical litany on how to untangle these experiences, I’ll share a writing that I believe will be more experiential; a writing that you will feel in your bones.
This writing was the product of a recent guided meditation led by a friend and teacher. The gist of the meditation was (1) getting in touch with our inner child, (2) getting in touch with our future ‘dream’ self, and (3) getting in touch with the shadow aspects that stood between.
After deep contemplation, visualization, and other writing, this was the conclusion of my process…
“I walked into Hell with my Inner Child today. We reckoned with her fear of pain head-on. Fear of Hell is worse than Hell itself. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Bringing a child into the world is choosing to subject them to pain. Life and vitality, yes. But pain as well. And pain. Can’t escape pain. Embracing pain, trusting pain creates life. Using pain for growth gives it a higher purpose. But still, it must be felt.”
We might choose to exchange the word “pain” for “challenge”- you might find that more palatable. Still, the resistance, the edge, the friction persists. It is one side of the duality. We would not be able to grow or experience all the things that come with growth (fulfillment, for example), without challenge. There would be no alchemy without heat, friction, and pressure.
How we relate to challenge, how we relate to pain, is what makes the difference.
“Fear of Hell is worse than Hell itself.”
This inner child, who I met in the meditation, was still living in fear of Hell. Thus, she was avoiding Hell, avoiding pain. She came to me because I have grown the ability to face pain, and to teach her to do the same.
I helped her untangle being with/in pain from the feeling that she’s doing something ‘wrong’. This was the understanding she absorbed- that to be in pain meant that she was doing something wrong, that pain is a punishment.
Suffering is self-punishment, indeed. But pain? There’s no morality around pain. It simply is. Taking away the edge of fear, of resistance, towards pain makes it so much lighter, so much more bearable. That fear of pain is, in fact, suffering.
If you would like that philosophical litany, to explore these ideas and their application further, check out the article above, “Turning Towards Discomfort.”
All the best to you. From one human to another 💚
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Insights From Grandmother
Thursday, September 4, 2025 • Duration 09:30
As I sat with Grandmother Ayahuasca this past new moon, she asked me,
“Can you be as devoted to your partner and to your household as you are to your business?”
They say that asking a better question gets you a better answer, and this question produced a host of insights. It was very confronting.
The contrast in the comparison was immediately obvious. My devotion to my business is readily apparent; it’s my passion, my baby, my purpose. It’s the creation that I’ve nourished and grown for the most time, consistently.
I’ve held the dream of being a mother, wife, and homemaker longer, but this was a dream I let go of time after time, allowing it to come back better, if it was meant to. And I turned to business for solace, as something that felt more in my direct control.
My business, especially my client practice, is, in many ways, how I know myself.
“Can you be as devoted to your partner and to your household as you are to your business?”
This question shone into the darkness. The difference in my capacity for devotion between my personal and professional lives could not be mistaken.
A small, weak, afraid voice inside me whispered, “But I don’t want to, it’s hard,” responding to Grandmother’s inquiry.
She responded, as a wise grandmother does, gently but firmly. “Being devoted to your business was hard at first.”
She had a point. Ease of devotion to my business had come only through many years and many trials; test after test that asked, “Is this really what you want?”
In those trials, testing my devotion to my business, especially the early ones and the hardest ones, it felt easy to abandon my work. It was easy to come to the conclusion that God had other plans for me, or that I was following the wrong path, due to the lack of ease and flow in a particular moment or phase.
I didn’t understand, experientially, the value of consciously choosing to do a “hard” thing.
I learned devotion to my work in those early days through the contrast of what life was like of work that I resonated with deeply. After so many cycles of leaving and returning to my intimate work with men, I got the hint.
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How to Think About Luck (Practically)
Thursday, July 10, 2025 • Duration 07:14
*Crafted through thoughtful collaboration between Rosey and ChatGPT.
Luck isn’t random; it feels that way when we’re disconnected from our role in it. 🎲
The phrase that changed everything for me?
"Luck is preparedness meets opportunity."
This definition hands us back our power. It removes the mystery—and, in many ways, the excuse—behind what we call "luck." It reminds us that we play a significant role in how much “luck” we experience.
If you’re ready to start feeling luckier, read on. 🍀
💭 Why We Misunderstand Luck
Most of us were taught that luck is a cosmic accident—something that happens to you, or doesn’t. You’re either born under a lucky star or you’re not. But this belief doesn’t hold up. Not energetically. Not mathematically. Not even spiritually. 🌌
If you're familiar with the law of large numbers or the principles of quantum physics, you know: nothing is truly random. Everything is connected. Patterns always emerge. This is not mysticism—it’s science.
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And yet, when it comes to luck, we often throw our hands in the air and say, “Some people just have it.” 🤷♀️
But what if “luck” is simply the byproduct of becoming the kind of person who is ready for the moment when opportunity knocks? 🚪
🔑 From Victimhood to Magnetism
I didn’t always feel lucky. In fact, for a time, I felt distinctly unlucky. I saw others getting opportunities, relationships, ease—and I felt left behind. Overlooked. Like the universe skipped over me. 😞
But looking back, I can see clearly: I wasn’t actually unlucky. I just wasn’t prepared.
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Letting Go of Guilt When You Evolve Past People or Paths
Thursday, July 3, 2025 • Duration 07:36
*Crafted through thoughtful collaboration between Rosey and ChatGPT.
Guilt is one of the most underestimated emotions on the self-actualization path. 😶
It’s quiet. It's sticky. And it disguises itself as loyalty, kindness, or 'being a good person.'
But make no mistake: unprocessed guilt can be a trap that keeps you from stepping into who you're becoming. 🧗♀️
🌀 When You Outgrow a Path
If you’re actively evolving, you will inevitably outgrow people, identities, careers, communities, and versions of yourself you once loved. 🌱
That doesn’t mean they were wrong. It means you changed. And if you’re like me, it wasn’t the changing that hurt most—it was the leaving. 😔
There are so many moments I can recall where I knew it was time to go, time to set the boundary, time to cut the cord… and I did it. I did it even when I wasn’t sure how it would be received. I did it when I questioned whether I was being rash or reactive. I did it because something inside me knew it was time. 💫
And I don’t regret a single thing I left.
But I have sometimes regretted how I left. I’ve felt the clumsiness of a quick exit. The sharpness of a boundary set too fast, too hot. I’ve seen the wake behind me and thought, “Could I have done that more gently?” 😬
Still, I had to go.
🧠 Guilt = Unprocessed Love
The guilt that rises after growth is often just love still learning where to go. It shows up in the lower belly for me, sometimes a warm ache in the heart. It’s the part of me that says, “I don’t want to hurt you.” Even as I walk away. ❤️
Guilt is not always a red flag. Sometimes it’s a sign that you’re a deeply caring person who is just trying to be true to yourself and kind to others. 🤍
The trick is not to get stuck in it.
Because when we stay in situations out of guilt—when the only thing keeping us there is the fear of how we’ll be perceived or the grief we might cause—we eventually start to rot. 🪤
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Redefining 'Selfish'
Thursday, June 12, 2025 • Duration 10:11
*Crafted through thoughtful collaboration between Rosey and ChatGPT.
💭 Why We Fear Being Selfish
One of the most common limiting beliefs I run into with clients is the idea that ‘selfish’ = ‘bad.’
I hear this in the way they talk…
“I want to do X, but I don’t want to be selfish.”“Do you think X is selfish?”“This is really selfish, I know, but I really want X.”
I recognize this pattern in my clients because I first had to recognize it in myself 🪞
Years ago, I discovered that this negative connotation around the word ‘selfish’ was deeply limiting my ability to experience authentic self-love, self-care, and self-trust.
When we grow up in environments where being ‘selfish’ is shamed, punished, or used as a weaponized label, we internalize a dangerous equation:
Selfish = Bad.Bad = Rejected.Rejected = Unsafe.
So naturally, our nervous systems try to protect us by rejecting anything that might look selfish—even if that thing is as simple and essential as rest, saying no, or expressing a need 🛡️
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What happens then?Parts of the self end up rejected.
Desire. Preference. Instinct. Boundaries. These sacred inner signals get mislabeled as threats and shoved into the shadows 👤
🧭 What Healthy Selfishness Really Means
To be clear, there is an extreme of selfishness that becomes self-absorbed, disconnected from impact, or even exploitative. That’s not the kind of selfishness I’m talking about here. That’s not the kind of selfishness most of my clients (or myself) have ever needed help .
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How I Channeled Obsessive-Compulsive Behavior Into Self-Actualization
Thursday, June 5, 2025 • Duration 10:03
*Crafted through thoughtful collaboration between Rosey and ChatGPT.
This is the final companion piece to my three-part series, Twelve Books That Changed My Life. If Part Three was about putting insight into action, this article is about one of the most personal ways I’ve done that—by transmuting obsessive-compulsive energy into grounded, intentional creation. 🌀✨
Diagnosed—but Not Defined
When I was 19 years old, I was diagnosed with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. I had wondered for a while if some of my anxiety-driven behaviors qualified me for this additional DSM badge, and one day I spontaneously brought them up to my psychiatrist. After describing the time I spent on these behaviors—at least an hour a day, most days—she confirmed what I suspected.
At the time, I believed it was only about an hour. But in hindsight, I can see how the compulsions, and more importantly, the obsessive thoughts, drained much more than an hour: attention, energy, presence, and peace.
Some behaviors were obvious—like only setting the TV volume to an even number or a multiple of 5, honking my car alarm three times to confirm it was locked, or asking people I loved to reassure me again and again (and again) that they loved me. Others were more subtle, like microadjusting furniture, meticulously organizing (and then reorganizing), or being paralyzed by intrusive thoughts. These weren’t just quirks. They were systems my brain created to help me feel safe in a world where I felt powerless. 🔒
The next year, I worked with a counselor who specialized in exposure therapy—one of the most effective tools for OCD and phobias. It helped take the edge off. I started recognizing the impact more consciously and reclaiming small bits of my time and attention. Over the next four years, I set boundaries with many of those behaviors, began to redirect my focus, and did deeper work to heal the chronic anxiety beneath it all. 🌿
From Control to Creation
As I grew into conscious personal development, something familiar resurfaced. I was fully immersed in growth—but sometimes, the energy behind it felt… off. High-pressure. Dire. Like if I evolve fast enough, I would fall back into my former life of illness, victimhood, and powerlessness. The stakes felt too high. I couldn’t relax into the joy of becoming. Instead, I was gripping the steering wheel so tightly I barely noticed how fast I was going.
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Twelve Books That Changed My Life – Part Three
Thursday, May 29, 2025 • Duration 15:01
*Crafted through thoughtful collaboration between Rosey and ChatGPT.
If Part One was about the inner awakening, and Part Two was about embodiment and emotional healing, then Part Three is about action. These final four books helped me move from awareness into alignment, and from alignment into impact. 💥
They were catalytic. Grounding. Clarifying. They didn’t just inspire me—they gave me frameworks to build with. Some I return to regularly. Others hit me so hard once that they rearranged my DNA. All of them left a lasting mark. 🧬
This collection isn’t about theory. It’s about application. These are the books that helped me actually live what I was learning—personally, professionally, relationally, and financially. They brought my inner work into outer expression. 💼✨
Let’s dive into the books that helped me live it out loud. 🌊
9. Love Is a Battery by Brandon Joe Williams
(The Mechanics of Love, Attraction, and Polarity) ⚡💘🔋
Love Is a Battery is the most practical text I’ve ever encountered for understanding polarity dynamics in love and sex. Brandon Joe Williams is thoroughly impressive—both as a man and a writer. His tone is direct, clear, and action-oriented, with a strong thread of personal accountability.
What makes his writing especially accessible is the balance he strikes between confident structure and heartfelt vulnerability. He shares generously from his own journey—from struggling to talk to women at all to becoming an accomplished therapist and self-actualizing human. 💬
This book is particularly powerful for men, who are often left floundering when it comes to relationship dynamics. But it’s just as illuminating for women, who may feel their way through love and sex but struggle to articulate it or support their partners in navigating polarity with clarity.
William’s metaphor of love and attraction as a battery—with each partner representing one pole—is simple but potent. Once you understand the mechanics of that energetic dance, you can consciously shift your patterns, re-magnetize your connection, and return to a place of grounded polarity. 🔋
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Sacred Timing: How Evolution Shaped Polarity in Sex and Connection
Thursday, May 22, 2025 • Duration 21:46
*Crafted through thoughtful collaboration between Rosey and ChatGPT.
Let’s start with this: sexual energy is powerful. Not just in the "ooh la la" way, but in a deep, ancient, evolutionary way—a force that shaped us biologically, emotionally, spiritually, and relationally. 💥
We evolved that way for a reason.
And in the modern world, that deep knowing can get cloudy. But it still lives in our bodies—in our intuition, our emotional intelligence, and the tension we feel when something’s aligned… or not. 🌙
This piece is about reclaiming that. It’s about understanding the biological rhythms of sex, the cultural wisdom embedded in intentional timing, and how cadence—more than rules—is key to polarity, connection, and fulfillment. 🌿
Whether you're male or female, your body carries this intelligence. This is a shared evolutionary dance.
The Evolutionary Roots of Discernment 🔮
Let’s take it back to basics. Throughout human evolution, women have been the physically weaker sex. Perhaps to balance this, women evolved with extraordinary power: the power of selection.
Female sexual selection is one of the most impactful evolutionary forces in our species and many others 🦚🦍 Across cultures and generations, the quality of a woman’s choice had massive implications for the survival and success of her children. 👶
So what evolved to support that?
* Intuition
* Emotional intelligence
* Energetic sensitivity
* The ability to tease and test as tools for discernment (not manipulation, but energetic evaluation)
These weren't games. They were instinctual mechanisms designed to decode whether a partner was safe, attuned, and worthy of access—not just to her body, but to her energy, her DNA, her legacy. 💎
The “vibe check” you get when someone walks in the room? That’s not woo woo. That’s millions of years of biological intelligence pinging through your nervous system—like a tuning fork resonating with truth. 📡
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Twelve Books That Changed My Life – Part Two
Thursday, May 15, 2025 • Duration 16:29
*Crafted through thoughtful collaboration between Rosey and ChatGPT.
Awakening is intoxicating. It fills your veins with light, makes the world shimmer with meaning, and whispers, “You’re not crazy—there really is more.” 🕯️
But what no one tells you is that living into that more can be messy. It’s one thing to wake up. It’s another to stay awake while building a life. That’s what these books helped me do.
They anchored me. They affirmed me. And they gave me tools to integrate all the magic I’d tasted. ⚓️
These next four books met me in the messy, radiant middle: where awakening turns into embodiment, where insight turns into action, and where spirituality meets the sacred dirt of daily life.
They helped me ground what I had glimpsed. They taught me how to live it, love through it, and show up more fully as a woman, sovereign, and guide.
Let’s dive in. 🌊
5. Women’s Anatomy of Arousal by Sheri Winston
(My most-recommended book) 🧠💦🔥
I’ve recommended this book more than any other. Hands down. I don’t even remember how it found me—it just did, right at the beginning of my sex work journey in 2020. ✨
At the time, men constantly asked me how to better please women—or confessed, exasperated, that they couldn’t. And while I was in the throes of my own sexual awakening, what felt even more meaningful was passing this book on to others. Especially to my Tantric massage clients. 😏📚
As I stepped more fully into my role as an Authenticity and Intimacy Coach, I realized just how many people—men and women—desperately needed this knowledge.
There’s a massive data gap between women and our bodies. Between our partners and the pleasure we’re capable of. Between truth and the education we’ve been given.
And bridging that gap starts here.
It’s impossible for a woman to have an authentically thriving sex life without being deeply connected to her body—her sexual anatomy, yes, but also her intuition, emotionality, and energetic rhythm. And because we’re gorgeously complex, it’s nearly impossible for a partner to fully meet us if we can’t express what we want. ✨
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#27 - Ellie Michelle - Part 2 - The Inner Artist, The Power of Play, and Navigating Uncharted Territories
Monday, May 5, 2025 • Duration 48:28
The second (spooky 👻) half of my conversation with Ellie is only available to paid subscribers. We discuss how to slow down, deepen presence and creativity, integrate the inner masculine and feminine, and embrace your inner gremlins. If you’re not a paid subscriber and want to indulge in me and Ellie’s convo, subscribe to The Naturally Rosey Podcast for $5.55 a month @naturallyrosey on Substack OR use your one-time-only 7-day free trial.
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit naturallyrosey.substack.com
in the absence
My partnership and my household are not so expendable to me. I am confronted with the—hard—challenge of learning devotion to these faces of my life, and upping my devotion to my personal life in general, without abandoning the pursuit.
“Can you be as devoted to your partner and to your household as you are to your business?”
I can, and recognizing…
(1) that this practice is hard right now and
(2) that it will take some time and devotion to the hard BEFORE devotion to my home feels as flowy as devotion to my business does
…is the self-compassion that I need to continue forward with resilience.
And, look, y’all, THIS IS HARD.
Never for long, but in some moments…
Like waking up this morning from a dream in which I experienced the freedom of being single again and the potential of finding another partner who is (seemingly) a better match.
That would be the easier thing, right?
But this is part of my shadow pattern, “The grass is always greener…”
It’s easy to jump, to leave. I’ve done this a lot in my life, not only with partners, but with friends, jobs, and more.
When things get hardest, that’s when it’s easiest to believe that the “right” way is to get out. And sometimes this is true. But sometimes, maybe more often, we are simply running from our shadows in these moments. Running from our lack of ability to love a hard situation.
So rather than learn to love a hard situation, we look for an easier situation.
And, again, sometimes we genuinely don’t have the capacity to learn how to love a hard situation while in it. And, sometimes, the genuinely loving thing to do is to leave.
But, more often than we hold ourselves accountable to, the call is to love more, to love the hard.
And I’m stretching my capacity to love the hard.
I’m growing my ability to contain challenge in partnership, with presence. To find devotion when the friction appears in the most intimate, least convenient, most hurtful spaces. To know that even this friction is not personal. To find love even here.
“Can you be as devoted to your partner and to your household as you are to your business?”
Thank you, Grandmother, for this question, for this call to grace, service, and greatness.
This is truly an abundant, overflowing human experience we live in. I’m grateful and humbled to be a part of it.
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I was deeply disconnected from myself. I didn’t know how to listen to my own needs, desires, or instincts. I was emotionally and physically depleted—depressed, unwell, and untethered from my sense of purpose. I was so out of touch with my own power that I couldn't recognize the opportunities around me, let alone respond to them. 🙈
Over time, I began reprogramming my language and definitions—not just to feel good, but to get clear. To get accurate. Words like "luck" hold subtle meanings that shape how we experience reality. If I define luck as random, I act like I have no agency. If I define luck as energetic resonance plus readiness, I start preparing. I start aligning. I start magnetizing.
And I’ve never felt luckier than I do now. 🌞
⚙️ The Mechanism Behind “Luck”
Let’s ground this in something practical:
* Preparedness means inner and outer alignment. It’s the mindset, emotional maturity, health, skills, and capacity to receive. 🧰
* Opportunity is all around us. But you only see it when you’re prepared. You only seize it when you’re ready. 👀
Energetically, this is also about coherence. When you are energetically congruent with what you say you want, the world responds. It’s not magic. It’s physics. ⚡
You can call it quantum entanglement or mirror neurons or confirmation bias. I call it being in alignment with the role you want to play. If you show up as the version of you who already has what you want, life reflects that back to you. 🔄
🚩 Common Luck Myths (and Their Fixes)
* “Luck is random.”
* ➤ It’s not. It’s probabilistic. And your choices shift the probabilities. 🎯
* “Some people just have it.”
* ➤ They might. But more often, they’ve been preparing behind the scenes. 🎬
* “I don’t need luck.”
* ➤ Why reject a blessing? Say yes to all the ways the universe can support you.
* “It’s not fair.” 🧭
* ➤ The most empowering question isn’t “Why them?” but “What are they doing—energetically, mentally, relationally—that I can learn from?”
🔄 Practice: Becoming a Luck Magnet
Try this 3-part practice to begin re-patterning your relationship to luck:
1. Redefine the word.Write a definition of luck that empowers you. Example: “Luck is when my preparation aligns with opportunity, and I’m grounded enough to say yes.” ✍️
2. Mirror the lucky. 🪞Think of someone you see as lucky. What are they doing? How are they showing up? What beliefs, habits, or postures might they embody? Study. Integrate.
3. Bless your desires.When you want something, say: “Yes, please. I’m ready. I receive this fully.” Shift from scarcity to celebration. Every desire is a doorway to more coherence. 🪄
💬 Final Thought
Luck doesn’t happen to you. It happens through you. 🔥
When you live like someone who is already blessed, already favored, already aligned, the world rearranges itself to match.
So yes—prepare. Align. Take action. Open your hands and your heart. 💖
Only now, there’s more damage. More confusion. More suppression. 😵💫
🥀 From Loyalty to Avoidance
At some point, I became so good at leaving what didn’t fit that it started to feel… easy. Too easy. 🏃♀️
It became less of a conscious choice and more of a reflex. A skill turned shadow. I had trained myself to walk away when I sensed incongruence, and while that served me for a time, eventually it started to limit me. 🪞
I reached a place where I wanted to stay. I found relationships, callings, and communities that resonated. That felt good. And suddenly, all the old triggers that used to say “Run!” became opportunities to stay and feel. 🤲
It’s a different kind of bravery. 🛡️
Because yes, staying just to avoid guilt is a trap—but so is leaving just to avoid discomfort. 😖
🔥 The Middle Path
Let’s be honest: not all relationships are meant to be salvaged. Some paths are meant to end. But not every hard moment is a sign to exit. And not every uncomfortable emotion is a cue to burn it all down. 🔥
Guilt can be an invitation to slow down and check in. 👂
* Is there still love here?
* Is there still respect?
* Is the guilt calling me to show up more fully—or step away more clearly?
Sometimes, guilt is just asking for a conversation, a truth spoken, a shared vulnerability. 🗣️
And sometimes, it’s asking for a gentle bow and a peaceful goodbye. 🙏
🛠️ Practice: The Guilt Check-In
When guilt arises, try this 5-minute embodied check-in:
* Place a hand on your lower belly and your heart. Breathe. Let your body settle. 🧘♀️
* Ask: Is this guilt coming from fear, love, or confusion?
* Ask: What truth am I avoiding right now?
* Ask: If I could act from self-trust instead of guilt, what would I do?
* Close with: “I trust my evolution. I honor the love that’s been shared. I don’t need to carry what’s no longer mine.” ✨
Repeat as needed. It’s not about being cold—it’s about being clear. 🧊
💡 Final Thought
Staying just to avoid guilt creates resentment. But leaving every time you feel discomfort creates instability.
The real growth is in learning to tell the difference.
You are allowed to leave. You are allowed to stay. You are allowed to outgrow and keep loving. 💖
🔥 What we need is a reclamation—a healthy, nuanced, life-affirming definition of selfishness:
Selfishness as the ability to honor one’s needs, desires, and experience without collapsing into guilt.
This is one of those put-on-your-own-oxygen-mask-first truths. You cannot be a stable, generous, loving presence for anyone if you are in chronic neglect of your own system. You cannot be creative when you're resentful. You cannot give when you feel depleted. You cannot love well while erasing yourself.
We are slowly waking up—individually and collectively—to the reality that prioritizing the self is not a rejection of others. It is, in fact, what makes authentic, sustainable relationship possible 💞
💡 Enlightened Self-Interest: The Middle Way
One way to reclaim the idea of “selfish” is to shift into a mindset of enlightened self-interest.
This is the understanding that what’s good for you can be good for the collective—when approached with awareness and integrity. It’s not about sacrificing your experience for others, nor is it about dominating or manipulating for gain. It’s about being so deeply aligned with your own well-being that your choices naturally benefit those around you 🌍
When you’re well-rested, resourced, and inspired, you become more generous, more magnetic, more useful. You contribute not from guilt or depletion, but from overflow. That’s enlightened self-interest in action.
🧬 The Cultural Reframe
In a world that’s still unlearning codependence and reimagining what it means to be both sovereign and connected, selfishness has to be redefined.
Not as a sin. But as a skill.Not as an insult. But as a signal.Not as something to avoid. But as something to understand, shape, and wield with love.
👁️ This shift is not optional on the path to self-actualization. It’s essential. Because becoming your fullest, most vibrant, most alive self will require choices that look selfish from the outside—especially to those who benefitted from your self-abandonment.
😔 Guilt Around Joy, Success, or Abundance
One of the most common symptoms of limiting beliefs is guilt for feeling good. So many of us carry an unconscious belief that if we’re happy, wealthy, or thriving, we must be taking too much 😵💫
“What will people think if I’m this happy?”“Am I allowed to want even more?”“Is it wrong that I’m doing better than the people I love?”
These thoughts aren’t truth—they’re trauma. Inherited guilt. Cultural scarcity. Social conditioning. They are not your soul speaking.
🥰 Learning to receive without guilt is a skill. Learning to feel joy without explaining it, to shine without apology, and to expand without minimizing—all of that is part of the deeper healing of our relationship with ‘selfishness.’
You are allowed to want a beautiful life. You are allowed to receive good things. And your thriving does not take away from anyone else’s—it shows what’s possible.
🔑 Practices to Redefine “Selfish” in Your Own Life
Try one or more of these to start shifting your relationship with the word:
1. Selfishness Reframe Journal 📝Write the word selfish at the top of a page. Beneath it, free-write: What did this word mean in your childhood? In your relationships? In your spiritual community? Then, define what you want it to mean now.
2. Guilt Check-In ⚖️The next time guilt surfaces after a self-honoring decision, ask:
“Is this guilt a sign I did something wrong—or a sign I’m doing something new?”Practice sitting with the discomfort of expansion without rushing to fix it.
3. The Self-Honoring Pause 🧘♀️When asked to do something, practice pausing to feel your actual yes/no before answering. No justification required. Just “Let me feel into that” is enough.
4. Mirror Affirmations 🔮Speak to yourself clearly and aloud:
“It is not selfish to honor my experience.”“The more I meet my needs, the more I have to give.”“Self-honoring is sacred.”
5. Talk About It 💬Speak to a trusted friend or coach about your evolving view of selfishness. Naming it aloud reduces its charge and builds new neural pathways of permission.
🌱 Final Thoughts
The next time you feel the tug-of-war inside about whether something is “selfish,” pause and ask:
Is this actually harmful? Or is it simply unfamiliar because I’m choosing myself?
That one question can change everything.
And that one moment of choosing yourself? That’s the real beginning of everything else. 🌿
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It took time, but eventually I recognized the energy beneath my self-improvement drive. And I saw it clearly for what it was: the same energy that used to have me realigning furniture to match the grain of the floor. The same energy that demanded reassurance, that double-checked locks, that micromanaged everything it touched. 😳
This realization was both relieving and crunchy.
Relieving—because I finally had something good to associate with that energy. I wasn’t broken. I was creative. I was powerful. I had energy to give.
Crunchy—because I knew I still had work to do. I had matured, but that energy hadn’t vanished. It had just changed form.
Now, I see that energy as wild, alive, and deeply intelligent. It’s creative life force that got stifled and twisted by fear—but once reconnected with intention, it’s magnetic. And it needs a job. Because if I don’t give it a job, it will find one—and it won’t always be one I like. 😅
Instead of hyper-focusing on control, I now ask a different question: What am I wanting to create? Then I let myself follow that inspiration. That subtle shift changed everything. 🎨
Instead of managing my anxiety, I began channeling its root energy into creative manifestation: writing, building systems, developing offerings, designing experiences. And the more I leaned into purposeful creation, the less often that anxious, obsessive vibe showed up in misaligned places.
I don’t mean to say I never adjust a pen or overanalyze a conversation anymore. But it’s rare now. The energy that used to swirl in endless loops has found a flow. A current. A way forward.
And that’s what self-actualization really is: not becoming perfect, but using everything you’ve got—even the weird, messy, misunderstood stuff—to build a life that feels authentic, grounded, and meaningful.
Reflection Prompts for Transmuting Obsessive Energy
🌀 Where does your energy want to go, but keeps getting stuck? 🌀 What behaviors give you a sense of control, even if they don’t actually solve anything? 🌀 What are you afraid would happen if you didn’t do that thing? 🌀 Where might that same energy serve you if redirected intentionally? 🌀 What does your Creator Archetype look like—and what would they do with this energy?
Practices to Rechannel Compulsive Energy
✨ Create Before You Consume – Start your day by making something, even small. It trains your energy to flow outward, not spiral inward.
✨ Make Space for Inspiration – Leave blank time in your schedule to listen for what wants to be made or moved. Don’t fill every moment.
✨ Do Messy Things on Purpose – Stretch into discomfort by allowing imperfection. Leave the pen slightly crooked. Let the sentence stay unpolished.
✨ Move Your Body with Intention – Use yoga, dance, or even walks to re-engage your physical form. OCD lives in the mind—movement helps root it.
✨ Say Out Loud: “This energy wants to serve something greater.” – Then choose one small action and follow through.
✨ Track What Helps You Feel Secure – Not what helps you feel in control, but what genuinely helps you feel safe. Get honest about the difference.
Final Thoughts
It’s so possible to transmute these behaviors—especially through cultivating a greater sense of trust, self-direction, and inner authority. That means becoming a stronger leader in your life. It means embodying your Creator Archetype. 👑
The energy that once ran your compulsions might just be your deepest creative force—waiting for a better outlet. Give it one.
Topics include love as an energy system, non-verbal exchange, how to use mystery to your advantage, the importance of individuality, the toxicity of neediness and how to heal from it, conscious masturbation, attraction polarity, and more. It’s equal parts systems-thinking and soul medicine. 💞
This was the very first book we read in Rosey’s Reading Room, and it was a huge hit. Men shared that they finally felt not alone—and for the first time, they understood their own patterns. Women said the book gave them language for dynamics they had sensed for years but hadn’t yet been able to explain. 💡
If you’re ready to demystify love, deepen your polarity, and turn attraction into an intentional practice—this one’s a must-read. 🔥
10. Is Reality Optional? by Dr. Thomas Sowell
(Clarity, courage, and the power of grounded thinking) 🧠📚🔍
I listened to Is Reality Optional? in the spring of 2024. I don’t remember where I first heard the title, but it immediately caught my attention. Honestly, I thought it might be a dive into quantum physics or multiverse theory (lol)—and while it turned out to be the complete opposite, I was even more intrigued. 🧲
Thomas Sowell is a renowned economist, political philosopher, and senior fellow at the Hoover Institution. His writing is direct, unapologetic, and rooted in decades of academic rigor. He doesn’t coddle. He challenges. And I was craving that at the time—partly because of the man I was courting, Brandon, whose grounded masculinity and preference for reality over narrative had already started to rub off on me. 💥
This book isn’t warm or spiritual—it’s sharp and logical. And it offered me one of the clearest invitations I’ve ever received to grow up mentally and emotionally. Sowell delivers what I call “harsh love”—not to tear people down, but to grow them. He reminds you that feelings aren’t facts, that intentions don’t equal outcomes, and that true empowerment comes from being willing to confront complexity instead of avoiding it. 📖
If you want a deep, nuanced, data-driven dive into messy topics like policy, economics, education, race, and more—Sowell delivers. And while not everyone will agree with his conclusions, his clarity of thought is undeniable.
Is Reality Optional? helped me build what I now think of as compassionate realism—the ability to pair emotional depth with intellectual discipline. It gave me permission to bring both heart and logic to the table. To stop sacrificing discernment in the name of empathy—and instead, let the two evolve side by side. 💗📊
This book sharpened me. And for that, I’m deeply grateful. 🙏
11. Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
(Belief, vision, and the blueprint for possibility) 💰🧠✨
I started Think and Grow Rich a couple of times in 2020 and 2021—but never made it past the first few chapters. The timing just wasn’t quite right. But in December 2024, after an inspiring and energetically charged experience at the Austin Tantra Festival, I felt called to plunge into this classic work again. 🔥
I started the audiobook on the drive back to Missouri and decided to take Hill’s advice seriously: go slow. Let the material integrate. Apply the practices. This wasn’t a book to blow through—it was one to work with.
And it was so worth it. 💎
Despite the title, Think and Grow Rich isn’t just about money—it’s about mindset. Vision. Faith. Persistence. Self-mastery. It’s about aligning your thoughts with your desires in a way that actually builds momentum toward the life you want. 💫
Hill’s work is a cornerstone for anyone on the path of self-actualization. Some language and cultural references are a bit dated (it was written in the 1930s, after all), but the core principles are timeless. And powerful.
This book reminded me that success—financial or otherwise—starts in the mind. That imagination is a tool, as well as a toy. That desire, when properly channeled, becomes fuel. And that belief must be practiced daily, not just felt occasionally.
Hill gives you a blueprint, and it’s up to you to bring the energy.
If you’re ready to train your mind like an athlete—this one’s a must-read. 💪
12. Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus by Dr. John Gray
(Learning to translate, not just communicate) 💬🪐💓
I read Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus this past winter, during a rocky season in my relationship with Brandon. And I genuinely believe it helped turn the tide. 🌊
This book is both practical and inspiring. Dr. John Gray breaks down masculine and feminine communication patterns with clarity and compassion, offering not just theory, but real tools for bridging the gap. Think of it less like a self-help book and more like a translator’s manual for love. 🗣️
For me, this book was a mirror. It helped me realize that I had been pressuring Brandon to communicate my way instead of becoming more clear and courageous in expressing my actual feelings, boundaries, and desires. That shift alone was huge. 💗
As we applied the teachings—alongside other tools—our communication improved rapidly. We started listening differently. Speaking differently. Showing up with more grace for our differences, and more ownership of our needs. 🧩
This book is full of “aha” moments for couples. But it’s also deeply affirming for anyone navigating the sometimes-frustrating gap between masculine and feminine ways of processing and expressing emotion.
If you’ve ever felt like your partner is from another planet—Gray’s here to help you build the bridge. 🛸🚀
Where This Chapter Leaves Us 🌟
If the first eight books offered the foundation for my internal world, these final four helped me build something with it—stronger, wiser, and far more grounded. They taught me how to move through the world with deeper trust in both my heart and my logic. To own my voice. To lead with clarity. To act with alignment. 🧘♀️🗣️
They didn’t just shape my perspective—they shaped my ability to create.
And that, to me, is the point of personal development. Not just to understand ourselves better, but to bring our fullest selves to life. ✨🌱
With this, the Twelve Books That Changed My Life series is complete—but I have a feeling I’ll be adding to the list in the years ahead. Books are living companions on the path—and as we grow, the ones we meet change too. 📚💫
Thank you for joining me on this journey through the books that have meant the most to me—it’s been such a joy to share them with you.
I’d love to hear from you: What books shaped your outer world? What helped you go from inspiration to impact?
And men evolved in tandem—learning to attract, attune, and earn that yes from the partner or partners they desire. The most successful mates weren’t necessarily the strongest—they were the ones who could meet that discernment with presence, not pressure. 🔥
And this isn’t a one-sided process. Men have their own versions of this evolved intuitive intelligence, too—often felt in the gut, chest, or a surge of bodily clarity. The more both partners learn to listen to those signals, the more aligned and fulfilling the connection becomes.
Why Force Doesn’t Work 🤨
If forced sex led to better survival outcomes, we would have evolved into a species of rapists. But it didn’t—and we haven’t. Why?
Because coerced (emotionally or physically) or violent sex doesn’t produce the most viable offspring. Children conceived in environments of stress, fear, or power imbalance tend to have lower odds of survival and success. There’s less bonding. Fewer shared resources. Weaker social structures.
Consensual, attuned sex—especially when it’s mutually enjoyable—builds stronger emotional bonds. Strong bonds increase resilience. And resilience increases survival. 💞
So while biology didn’t write our moral codes, it did shape our fitness. And fitness shaped our cultures. Over time, societies developed norms, customs, and practices that reflected this deeper wisdom: sex is most fruitful when it’s chosen.
This isn’t about being “good” or “bad.” It’s about what works. And what works, in both biology and relationship, is mutual readiness.
When either partner engages before they’re truly ready—physically, emotionally, or energetically—it creates distortion. The exchange becomes uneven, and the connection unstable.
Waiting to have sex—creating spaciousness between now and the moment of that act—isn’t necessarily a weakness. It can actually be great strength. And when either partner brings conscious clarity and pacing to the connection, it benefits both.
The willingness to feel the heat of your own desire without reacting to it—that’s maturity. That’s polarity. That’s sacred timing. ⏳
The Responsibility—and Blessing—of Choice 🌀
With great discernment comes great responsibility. And for many—especially women—that role can feel like a burden. Being the one who says “no,” who slows things down, who filters the energy of a connection. But when we reframe that role as sacred—not shameful—something powerful shifts. It stops being about withholding and starts being about guiding. 🧭
Women, your ability to feel for timing, alignment, and resonance is not a flaw—it’s a gift. Trusting that signal, even when it’s inconvenient or confusing, is a powerful act of leadership. And the more you honor it, the more magnetic your presence becomes.
This applies to all of us. Discernment is not just a feminine gift—it’s a human one. Whether you're the one initiating or the one responding, the one pursuing or the one pausing, the quality of your attention matters. Honoring your internal signals—whether that's a yes, a no, or a not-yet—helps shape relationships that are built on clarity, safety, and mutual respect.
Men have evolved with intuitive intelligence, too—men can tune into truth through their bodies just like women, though some may need more practice. Learning to hear those signals is part of the same evolutionary conversation. The more both partners attune to their bodies, the more aligned the connection becomes. 🤝
Men have also evolved to adapt. To attune. To listen. A man who hears a partner’s signals—spoken or unspoken—and meets them with presence rather than pressure is demonstrating evolutionary strength. He’s not “losing the game”—he’s learning the dance. 🩰
Sex Is Sacred, And So Is the Waiting ⏳
I’ve lived a lot of life. I’ve had my very wild seasons. I’ve explored sexual freedom, dismantling the boundaries society and family impressed on me, and I’m grateful for those experiences. 😌
But at some point, “freedom” started to feel less free. And this offered a new level of refinement—redefining what sexual empowerment meant to me. ✨
When I healed my resentment toward abstinence-based cultures—those that preach sexual purity, modesty, or waiting—I began to see the deeper wisdom woven into the practice. Not in its most rigid, dogmatic forms, but in its underlying intention.
Here’s what I learned: Waiting doesn’t have to mean withholding.
Waiting can mean feeling. It can mean discerning. It can mean honoring the process of magnetism and mutual readiness—directed by intuition, not rules.
And while waiting may challenge some men (and some women), the ones who lean in—who hold the tension without trying to bypass it—are the ones who grow. The ones who lead and deepen. 🔥
As Brandon Joe Williams writes in Love Is a Battery, true masculine leadership in sex begins with presence and discernment—not pursuit at all costs…
“An alarming percentage of women don't achieve orgasm during sex or during anything sexual. This is a true shame. If a man would simply cherish the moment with a woman and understand her ideas and difficulties in sex, she would achieve an orgasm… Many women are mainly having sex to try to please the man, but they know they aren't comfortable or ready to fully immerse themselves in the sexual experience. This violates the energy exchange and battery-aspect of this universe…
The man should actually be quite keen on knowing if the woman is truly ready or not, and if she isn't, then he should deny her 'advances'... The proper way around all this is to make it very clear where you both are at, and don't allow the other person to bullshit you.”
A man who collapses under the pressure of waiting was never truly ready in the first place. And a woman who rushes past her body’s wisdom isn’t leading—she’s abandoning herself.
This isn’t just about holding out for “the one.” These principles apply whether you're exploring short-term connection, long-term partnership, or anything in between. When both partners are honest about where they’re at, temporary intimacy can be sacred too. 💫
Refining Sexual Empowerment 🌹
As I consciously refined my relationship to sex—beyond shame, beyond rebellion—I stepped into a deeper embodiment of power. Not performative power. Not reactive power. Real, grounded power rooted in choice, clarity, and connection.
Sex stopped being just obligation, performance, or play—it became a powerful exchange of life force. And the more I honored that truth, the more magnetic I became. To myself. To others. To purpose. 🌌
This shift didn’t separate me from freedom or expression—it matured them. I still believe in wildness. I still believe in erotic joy. But now, I believe even more in discernment. In resonance. In knowing when less is actually more.
The tricky part? Most of us aren’t taught how to use this inner guidance system with intention. We’re taught to attract—not to attune. We’re taught to chase validation—not to follow what actually feels aligned. Reclaiming that intuitive intelligence took time. But it gave me something lasting: confidence built from the inside out.
This isn’t about control. It’s about sovereignty. Your sexuality should be something you move with—not something that moves you without your consent. 👑
And no matter what your past looks like, it’s never too late to refine your approach.
You Don’t Have to Prove Your Worth Through Access ✨
You don’t need to prove you’re healed, open, fun, or evolved by giving someone immediate access to your body. And you don’t need to earn love through pursuit, performance, or pretense.
Your grounded, honest presence is more than enough.
To the women: if you feel the urge to rush past your body’s truth to keep someone interested, pause. That’s not alignment—it’s abandonment. Your “no” or “not yet” isn’t rejection—it’s leadership. You’re setting the tone for how deeply you’re willing to be met.
To the men: if a woman makes you wait, consider that she’s not testing you out of meanness—she’s honoring her clarity. And she’s honoring you by inviting you to rise. She wants to see that you have the stability, capacity, and vision to meet her—not just in the moment, but perhaps down the road as well. If she’s present and still not ready, that’s a sacred moment. Not a loss.
Timing isn’t a tactic. It’s an invitation. And when both partners meet that space with honesty and respect, even a short-term connection can become deeply regenerative. 💫
How to Harness Your Evolved Intuition 🧬🧘♂️🧘♀️
Your intuition is not abstract woo woo—it’s biological intelligence, refined over thousands of years. And it gets stronger with use.
Here are a few ways to start tuning in:
1️⃣ Slow down. The moment you feel rushed, pause. Intuition gets overridden when urgency takes the wheel.
2️⃣ Feel your body. Notice your physical response—tightness or ease, contraction or expansion—when someone enters your field or touches you. Your body knows before your mind does.
3️⃣ Name the signal. Are you feeling desire? Fear? Curiosity? Obligation? Getting honest about the signal helps you interpret it wisely.
4️⃣ Let the tension breathe. Whether you're being pursued or pursuing, don’t rush through the tension. How both people hold that charge says a lot about readiness.
5️⃣ Ask better questions. Before sex, pause and reflect: Is this what I truly want right now? Or am I trying to earn something—validation, love, control, approval?
6️⃣ Reflect after connection. Journal after dates or sexual experiences. What felt aligned? What felt off? Over time, your body’s patterns become clearer.
7️⃣ Take ownership. Of your desires, your distortions, your past. You can trust your sense that something’s off without making the other person wrong. And you can trust your "yes" without needing to justify it.
The goal isn’t to control the outcome. It’s to become more honest about what’s real—within you, and between you.
Where This Leaves Us 💫
Your intuition is not a flaw. It’s a feature. 🧬
Your discernment is not a barrier to connection; it makes connection possible. 💠
When you honor your own pacing—whether that’s a yes, no, or not yet—you create space for truth to emerge. And that space is sacred.
So tease. Wait. Invite. Refine. 💃
Not out of fear. Not for control.
But because you’re being honest. 💗
To the men who’ve read this far—thank you. Your presence here matters.
When women refine our power, and men honor it instead of resisting it, we don’t lose polarity—we amplify it. And when men deepen into clarity and presence, women feel safer relaxing into their truth. That’s the harmony we’re moving toward. 🕊️🔥
With reverence and a little fire,🕯️ Rose
Thanks for reading Naturally Rosey! Did you find this piece nourishing? Informative? Empowering? Share the love!
Sheri Winston, a nurse and licensed massage therapist, weaves anatomical precision with magical reverence. Her tone is humorous, real, practical, and empowering. She breaks down cultural history, inner and outer anatomy (wayyy more than just “clitoris and vagina”), and gives clear, respectful insights on how to relate to women’s bodies in real time. 👀📖💃
I’ll leave you with this: when Brandon and I first started dating, this was the first book I recommended to him. He finished it before I visited him in Denver the following month.
That, my friends, is foreplay. 😉
6. You Can Heal Your Life by Louise Hay
(Where self-love meets energetic healing) 🌈💗🦋
I read this in the fall of 2020, shortly after moving back in with my parents for the first time in years. I wasn’t exactly thrilled—but I was determined to use the time well. Most of my days were spent reading, meditating, journaling, and doing whatever I could to stay aligned with some sense of hope and direction.
A friend had given me this book a few years prior, and something in me finally said, “Now.”
It became a quiet, powerful catalyst.
Louise Hay’s words were simple but profound. She brought a deeply spiritual, energetically-informed lens to affirmations, illness, healing, and self-love. This wasn’t fluff. This was vibrational medicine. 💫
And then I found the index in the back.
Each ailment—physical or emotional—was paired with a limiting belief and a new, empowering thought pattern. As I scanned the list, one entry grabbed me and wouldn’t let go:
Herpes Simplex Virus 😳
I had been diagnosed nearly four years earlier. It had been an emotional rollercoaster—frequent outbreaks, dating challenges, shame. Seeing it on that list felt like exhaling a breath I didn’t know I was holding.
Louise wrote that herpes was often linked to shame around sexuality.
No judgment. No condemnation. Just a mirror. 🪞
It cracked something open in me.
I wasn’t broken. I wasn’t being punished. I was being invited to heal.
And for the first time, I believed I could.
My outbreaks grew fewer and farther between. My shame began to loosen. I started replacing self-criticism with curiosity, and hopelessness with compassion.
This book reminded me that we are part of the quantum field—and we don’t need permission to engage it.
We just need willingness. 💖
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7. A Hunter-Gatherer’s Guide to the 21st Century by Drs. Bret Weinstein & Heather Heying
(For the nuance nerds) 🧠🔍🌍
I first listened to this book on Audible in December 2021 during our family’s Christmas road trip. 🚗🎄 I had been eagerly awaiting the release, and was just about foaming at the mouth while it downloaded.
During the COVID era, Bret and Heather’s podcast Dark Horse was a lifeline for me and many others seeking nuanced, non-ideological perspectives. Their book only deepened my respect for them.
As someone raised by scientists and obsessed with the intersection of quantum mechanics, biology, and consciousness, I was craving a framework that explained why “woo” sometimes works—without dismissing it or worshiping it blindly.
This book scratched that itch.
Bret and Heather are evolutionary biologists with a special talent for complex systems thinking. And that means: they know how to think deeply and in detail without getting trapped in dogma.
Their book is a grounded exploration of how our Stone Age bodies interact with a hyper-modern world. Chapters explore food, medicine, sleep, sex, gender, partnership, parenting, school, consciousness, and cultural evolution. 📘🌀
It’s not fear-based. It’s not politically correct. It’s thoughtful, rational, and refreshingly curious.
I often recommend this book to people who love critical thinking but still want to understand the human experience through an embodied, whole-systems lens.
Bonus? The first thing that caught my eye about Brandon was that he, too, was a Dark Horse fan. 🖤
If you’re tired of false binaries and ready for intelligent conversation—this is your jam.
8. The Magdalen Manuscript by Tom Kenyon & Judi Sion
(Sacred feminine meets sacred rage) 🩸👑🌹
I read The Magdalen Manuscript in Fall 2024, after years of hearing it whispered in spiritual circles. A friend and I decided to read it together, and I finished the last page while riding a train to my first ayahuasca ceremony that November. 😭🚆💫
It. Was. Electric.
This book tells the story of Mary Magdalen—not as a fallen woman, but as a Tantric priestess trained in the sacred sexual arts at the Temple of Isis. According to this channeled account, she met Yeshua (Jesus) as this energetic equal. They became sacred partners, co-initiators, and worked their magic together.
Before his crucifixion, she conceived their daughter—and later escaped to northwestern Europe to protect their lineage. 🕊️
It’s a retelling steeped in emotion, mystery, and symbolism.
As someone who left Catholicism in her teens, then discovered the Gnostic Gospels years later, and came to understand the dramatic differences between ‘paleo-Christianity’ (the grass-roots movement) and Christianity as an organized religion(s), this book felt like a puzzle piece sliding into place. 📜✨
I didn’t read this book to believe it—I read it to feel it. And what I felt was a reclamation of power. A sacred rage. A deep reverence for the feminine. And a grief that had no name until I read this story.
This book is for anyone who’s ever felt erased by tradition, overlooked by doctrine, or curious about the parts of the Christ story that didn’t make it into the canon.
It will break your heart wide open. And it might just piece it back together in a new way.
🌻 Where This Chapter Leaves Off
If the books in Part One were medicine for a recently cracked-open soul, these books helped pour something new into that space.
They offered me a deeper understanding of the feminine, of healing, of the sacred complexity of being human. They helped me soften and strengthen, often at the same time. They mirrored my own becoming—and guided it forward.
But embodiment isn’t the final stop.
Integration doesn’t just happen in solitude or ceremony. It happens in how we structure our lives. In how we move through work, money, health, communication. In how we relate to time, legacy, and our own edges of expansion.
That’s where we’re heading next.
✨ Stay tuned for Part Three—where we get a little more practical, a little more grounded, and a whole lot more powerful. We’ll explore the books that helped me root, rise, and refine. Think: money mindset, healthy masculine/feminine dynamics, and making the leap from personal insight to collective impact. 💪💼💞
As always, I’d love to hear from you:
📚 Which books have helped you feel more at home in your body, in your path, in your power?📖 What titles do you find yourself recommending over and over?