One weekend, I did something for myself.
Not for work. Not because someone needed something from me. Not because I had another responsibility to take care of.
I went to a women’s retreat where I was given permission to simply be.
The theme was becoming “unburdened.”
And I didn’t realize just how much I had been carrying until I had the opportunity to put some of it down.
As women, we carry so much. We carry responsibilities, expectations, disappointments, worries, relationships, family concerns, work stress, things from our past, and questions about our future. Sometimes we carry things for so long that they simply become part of our everyday lives.
We learn how to function while carrying them.
We smile while carrying them.
We go to work while carrying them.
We show up for everybody else while carrying them.
And sometimes we forget that we are carrying anything at all.
That weekend gave me an opportunity to stop.
To breathe.
To listen.
To reflect.
And most importantly, to let go.
There was something powerful about being in a space with other women who were doing the same thing. Different women. Different stories. Different experiences. Different burdens.
But for that moment, we were connected.
We came together in a sister circle, and there was something incredibly comforting about being surrounded by women who were willing to be present, open, supportive, and vulnerable with one another.
There was no need to have everything figured out.
No need to pretend everything was perfect.
No need to be the strong one every second.
I could just be me.
And I could heal in the moment.
I’m learning that healing doesn’t always happen all at once. Sometimes healing is simply recognizing what you’ve been carrying and deciding that you don’t want to carry all of it anymore.
Some things have to be released.
Some things have to be forgiven.
Some things have to be accepted.
And some things simply have to be left behind.
That weekend didn’t magically erase every worry or solve every problem waiting for me when I returned home. But it gave me something I desperately needed: space to release, reconnect, and breathe again.
I left feeling lighter.
Not because my life suddenly became perfect, but because I realized I don’t have to carry everything with me into every new season.
There are things I can put down.
There are things I can make peace with.
There are things I can give myself permission to stop worrying about.
And there are parts of me that deserve the same love, patience, and care that I so freely give to everyone else.
That sister circle reminded me that there is strength in women coming together—not to fix one another, but simply to see, hear, encourage, and hold space for one another.
I went to the retreat hoping to become unburdened.
I came home understanding that becoming unburdened isn’t just something that happened during one weekend.
It’s something I’m learning to choose every day.
To release what I cannot control.
To make room for healing.
To protect my peace.
To connect with people who pour into me.
And to remind myself that I was never meant to carry everything alone.
That weekend was more than a retreat.
It was a release.
And somewhere inside that sister circle, surrounded by women who were also learning to let go, I felt a little lighter, a little freer, and a little more like myself again. ❤️
If you want to know more about this sister circle and become unburdened, email me.
