My Story 

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I survived the silence and I built a life I never thought I'd have but let's begin where it all began. My journey.

 

I hit a wall in my early 20's. I was in a relationship that was manipulative, narcissistic, and sexually abusive for many years. I didn’t have the words for what was happening to me, just a deep, gnawing ache that something was horribly wrong. My family was fractured. My parents divorced, working 3 jobs, paying for college, living in a town of poverty and cultural isolation. Where I come from we didn't speak about struggles, anxiety or sadness. You ignored them and pushed through by working harder and pretending everything was okay. I was an intelligent, forward thinking, open, empathetic woman and the world expected me to be okay. But inside? I was drowning in silence, grief, and the kind of loneliness that sinks into your bones.

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I was hurting. I was unheard. I was in pain. I was broken.

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After a mental health crisis and short hospitalization, I discovered the healing power of creative expression alongside other women. We painted. We cried. We expressed. It was the first time in a long time that something made sense. When they released me, no one picked me up. I took a cab home from the hospital like I’d just run errands. Everyone ignored what happened and felt more unloved and unworthy of love more than ever. The shame and guilt felt unbearable but I was left with a burning desire to find hope. After a mental health crisis and short hospitalization, I discovered the healing power of creative expression alongside other women

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And then something happened...

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I experienced what many call a near-death experience. It wasn’t lights or angels or anything cinematic, it was more like being cracked open. When I woke up, I didn’t come back the same. There was sense of strength and relational intuition I never had experienced before. 

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Something inside me was different. Quieter, but clearer. I began to notice things, feel things, especially around people who were sick, grieving, or close to death. I didn’t have a name for it at first. It just showed up as a deep sense of knowing. A heaviness in my chest that wasn’t mine. A sudden urge to speak compassion into silence. An ability to sense what others couldn’t say out loud.

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The unknown isn’t something to fear, it’s something to explore. And with the right guidance, I believe we all have the ability to connect to something deeper, something very real. I don't see this as a “gift” or something mystical. It’s not magic, it’s awareness. And I believe we all have access to it when we quiet the noise and learn to listen.

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This is my truth:

That brush with death didn’t just pull me back.
It pulled something forward in me.

Now, I use it in my work, not as a tool to fix anyone, but as a way to be fully with them through the grief. To sense pain when and where it hides. To speak when others are too afraid. To help people feel seen, heard, and felt, not just with words, but with presence and expression. 

 

So to make a long story longer. Ha!

 

I graduated college.
I landed a job.
And then, I found real love. The kind that sees you, holds you, and chooses to stay. I got married. I became a mom to two beautiful children who, to this day, show me what love truly means.

But life has a way of breaking us open.

What I thought was forever unraveled through betrayal. The kind that hits so deep it rearranges your soul. I was cheated on. Not once, but many times. By the person I believed was my soulmate. The pain was unbearable. I got divorced. And once again, I was left to pick up the shattered pieces of my life.

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But this time, I did it differently 

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Overnight, I went from being a full-time stay-at-home mom to a single mother trying to rebuild. I made a decision: to stop surviving and start creating. I chose to become a full-time artist and finally follow the dream I had pushed aside for so long. I learned to forgive my ex-husband through forgiveness and compassion. To this day we are great friends, co-parent like a dream and have a modern family with my new love and fiancé. (something I can also teach you)

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As I painted my way back to myself, something still felt unfinished.

I had this deep, unshakable urge to help others, especially those struggling to find their way through heartbreak, identity loss, or starting over. That pull led me to become ICF-certified as a coach and now seeking to get nationally licensed as an LPC ( a psychotherapist ). It gave me a way to turn my own healing into something meaningful. Something that could support others on their journey too.

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Today, I combine my art, coaching, and intuitive work to support others in finding their own way home, to themselves, to their truth, to their power.

I now live in a place that feels like a vacation every single damn day!
It’s calm. It’s beautiful. It’s mine.

I built a life from the inside out, one filled with joy, color, and peace.
Not the surface kind.
The kind you earn through pain, healing, and finally choosing to stop hiding who you really are.

 

And now?

 

I have a career that makes me feel alive! 
Helping others express their pain, their story, their truth.
 Helping people turn silence into sacred sound.

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So this is me:) - Michelle

 

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