Be The Match...

But Don't Go Scorched Earth

This past weekend was one of those unexpected weekends—the kind that only happens when you finally stop fighting the current and let yourself float.

You see, lately, I’ve found it remarkably hard to get out of my own way. For months, it felt easier to convince myself that if I allowed myself to stop going a hundred miles an hour on court battles, the broken system would prevail. Long ago it stopped being "about me" and started being about those with less emotional prowess than me, who could never defend themselves the way I have.

But for an empath - the harsh, exhausting reality is that the "court things" were taking a massive toll. I was feeling less life force energy, less me, less ability to "reset."

I fell into the trap of believing that if I just locked myself in my office, if I drafted a stronger declaration, attached more indisputable exhibits of fact, and cited every piece of case law with surgical precision- the pure evil, and the glaring injustice would finally be exposed. I thought the truth would force the darkness to see.

It won’t. Because the systemic rot isn’t designed that way.

I’ve spent years advocating, researching, and pushing these systemic failures—and even decided to take things all the way to the Senate level (and trust me, there is much more to come on that front soon)...

But in the trenches of daily life, doing the right thing takes a visceral toll. While I have chosen to take the high road at every single turn, it doesn’t mean it hasn't completely tanked me.

Darkness and negative energies simply cannot perceive the truth. They aren't built to embrace light; they are designed to wallow in the shadows and stamp out every flicker of integrity they encounter. Like energetic vampires, they bleed your spirit dry, draining your peace, your clarity, and your vitality until you feel hollowed out in every imaginable way.

With the forest fires raging rampant right now, I’m viscerally reminded of the dual nature of fire: it has the terrifying power to scorch the earth, reduce entire landscapes to ash, and consume everything in its path, but it also carries the sacred capacity to be warm, grounding, and profoundly beautiful—like a glowing campfire that gathers us in, illuminates the dark, and keeps the cold at bay.

Fire itself is simply pure energy; the difference lies entirely in how it is channeled. I’d been doing that - I’d been using my light to counter the dark by going SCORCHED EARTH.

When we let our fury, exhaustion, and chronic battles rage unchecked, we burn down our own inner landscape, but when we intentionally contain that same fierce passion and direct it toward love, connection, and purpose, that heat transforms from a destructive blaze into a steady, warming - mesmerizing light that nourishes everyone around it.

Then, the universe threw another curveball. We received news that a family member had been hospitalized.

At first glance, through the lens of pure exhaustion, it felt like just one more heavy, awful thing piling on top of an already buckling foundation. It felt like another wave crashing over our heads.

Here is where the magic of alignment comes in. For weeks, a single line item on my calendar had been quietly staring back at me: Ride for Sammy. It happened to be in the very same town where our family lives.

I’ll pause here and be completely transparent with you. That ride was one of those events filed under things I felt I should do, but deep down, I was convinced some manufactured court crisis or urgent legal fire would arise to steal my weekend, my life, and my good intentions.

And then the shift happened. I reminded myself of the foundational truth I share with others every day: We always have a choice.

We decided to drop absolutely everything. We chose to stop feeding the machine. We packed up to go help our family, and we committed to showing up for the Ride for Sammy.

We made a frantic run to Walmart to grab a bike hitch, rigged four adult sized bicycles onto the back of the rig—which turned into a hilarious, chaotic adventure in and of itself—and hit the road. We had no rigid schedule, no perfectly mapped agenda, and no expectations beyond one clear, grounded intention: to show up with love for the people we care about.

It was a profound, total nervous system reset.

The moment our tires hit the pavement and the wind met our faces, the heavy, suffocating static of declarations, legal maneuvers, and toxic conflict simply evaporated. Out there listening to the wind ruffle the aspens, I remembered my genuine purpose, I remembered what real life actually feels like.

When you try to fight darkness with force, strategy, and sheer grit, you often end up playing on darkness's home turf. You exhaust yourself shouting logic at an entity that feeds on chaos. But when you actively choose love—when you redirect your focus, your body, and your sacred energy toward service, joy, laughter, and connection—you don't just fight the dark.

You starve it. You make it completely irrelevant. You extinguish it.

For three entire days, I barely touched my phone. I didn't check emails, I didn't refresh portals, and I didn't review case notes. The only time the screen lit up was to capture a candid photo when a beautiful moment demanded to be remembered. I unplugged from the battle and plugged directly back into life. I stared out at the glorious azure waters of Sand Harbor, and my only thought was, I wonder if Tahoe Tessie is sleeping in her cave…I wonder if I can will her to the surface today…

We even managed to get a Senior Portrait for our oldest...which will now eternally represent something bigger than just his photo - but a weekend creating a legacy and supporting people we love.

I came home grounded, restored, and deeply centered. And as I sat down at my desk this morning, I felt compelled to pop into your inbox with this gentle, urgent reminder:

Whatever battle is trying to consume your peace today—whether it is a legal fight, a toxic dynamic, an overwhelming project, or your own relentless inner critic demanding you work harder to fix what isn't yours to repair—stop letting it steal your light.

Choose where your life goes. Choose who gets your heart.

Strike the match. Choose love. Be the light.

Do you know your Primal Wound?