No matter what I did, peace felt out of reach. My body held onto the weight as if mirroring my emotional burdens. I was diagnosed with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS), and in my darkest moments, at times wanting to end my life. I even resented God, disconnecting from the Divine source I had once known so profoundly.
In 2017, I hit rock bottom. I ended a nine-year relationship, lost my dear cousin, and was still carrying the pain of my uncle’s passing. I had cared for him closely—a Vietnam veteran who lived with PTSD and schizophrenia. Supporting him through his condition deeply impacted me and played a decisive role in my spiritual awakening. The weight of repressed emotions and unhealed trauma had become unbearable.
One of the deepest wounds I carried was from being molested as a child. For years, I stayed silent, thinking I had moved on. But that pain showed up in my adult life—through broken relationships, self-doubt, and the ways I disconnected from myself. When everything around me started to fall apart, I realized I could no longer run from it.
In 2018, I chose a different path. I decided to live alone—uncommon in my Filipino culture, where the family usually stays close—but I knew I needed solitude. I needed to face myself finally. The past two years have transformed me. My spiritual awakening allowed me to recognize my thoughts, patterns, and the wounds I had long avoided. Night after night, I cried and held myself, gradually beginning to release the pain I had carried for so long.
I used to ask myself, Why did I have to go through this? What have I done to deserve this? Growing up, I was a believer—I strived to be good, yet I felt it was never enough. I carried an unconscious belief that I was unworthy of love, shaped by the absence of my biological father. That deep wound of abandonment left me feeling unsafe in the world.