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Another month, another death anniversary…

September honors the transition of my Nonni (grandma in Italian), Virgo season (grounded, Earth energy), and my birthday! The reminder that life and seasons, like nature, are cyclical.

I’ll never forget the first time I was present for an intimate passing in my 20s and witnessing the ways each member of the family was processing the immediate grief. There were the coping mechanisms of humor, tears, shock, stoicism, but most importantly, the importance of all being together. There was a softness in the space, and I felt honored to be a part of it.

The way we honor death is going to come with sorrow. Of course, it’s appropriate to and we must, physically morn the ones no longer physically here with us. In Francis Weller’s, Wild Edge of Sorrow, he speaks to the many rituals that exist across cultures that give a space for grief to be honored, witnessed, and have a ritual to partake in. Because where does stored grief go? The body, the collective, the hurt in the world that turns into anger. Which is probably why Im unexpectedly so drawn to the grief space. It correlates to my innate optimism of life, and the knowing that something so tragic, can also be beautiful.

The way we come together as a village, the way people show up for us when we don’t even know how to show up for ourselves, the way the world stops and we get to remember what truly matters for us with this one precious life. We stop to question, am I living my life how I want if I to died tomorrow? And then we take the pause we never give ourselves to truly reflect on this. Grief also grows our empathy. We suddenly understand what someone went through, or could be going through, and we come to see that “I am sorry for you loss,” is just a numbed out phrase casted upon us by the patriarchy to keep going in our 9-5s amidst one of the most universal experiences of life that connects us all on a greater level.

And while yes, grief is hard, and heavy, and foggy, it also connects us deeper to the human experience and the world around us. Reminding us like Virgo season, everything is interconnected: we are not separate from the Earth, the cycles of nature, or the intelligence of the systems that extend far beyond the physical vessels that we see.

And when we remember that, things shift in our life:

• Suddenly we care about where our food is coming from (what cow, what land, what farmer, what hands held this or what factory farm tainted this?)

• We prioritize attending the friend’s musical performance because if that work deadline isn’t saving a life, we know we can get back to it the next working day

• We care if it’s organic not because it’s trendy, but because we care about the chemicals being sprayed onto the Earth, & we care about what is going into the intelligent system of our bodies

• We are forced back into our heart space. The grief is heartache while the gratitude of aliveness is heart-centered. It’s all connected. And the more we see the ways grief is connected to the unconditional love that exists within us, within our heart space, the more we let our heart lead the way with how we navigate life. If someone asks how you are… and you tear up while sharing, wow you’re human! If someone asks how you are and you have this immense gratitude for just Being, they receive that aliveness too.

As we make the effort to explore the grief we are going through, and let it be witnessed without returning back to “how it was” and saying “Im good!,” the world shifts around us. In ways that the ache feels deeper, but the awe of the human experience feels deeper too.

Sooo… all of this is going nowhere I intended it too. I began this Substack with the intention of sharing a magical story on the first year death anniversary of my Nonni in September of 2024 that has to do with Italian food, my soul sister, & Marlon Wayans. But, I’ll save that for another time. As something else needed to be processed, shared, witnessed, and supportive for someone else today.

Thank you for being here and honoring grief in a new way.

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For Nons, I love you more than words could ever explain. 🕊️🌹

Con amore my loves,

Andrea

Know a griever who could use a lifeline?

I co-wrote a book on grief with my soul sister who taught me grief allyship. It’s called, It Takes A Village, it’s $11.00, 33 pages, written from our hearts with 3 identifiable stages of grief that we hope can be of service to others in the midst of loss.

This week I was asked to build out the value of Trust for The Well Lived Woman weekly newsletter (one of my tried & trues).

From leading sold-out Self-Trust circles, creating & teaching an online 7-week Self-Trust Course, and holding curated 4-week Self-Trust mentorship containers, I use both strategy & soul to tap into the trust that’s already within and just needs some tending to.

So here’s my take that I shared and am sharing here on how to f*cking trust yourself in 4 easy ways you can begin, today.

What better way to begin Virgo season?! My Sun sign that I so lovingly adore. May you make the time to ground with Mother Earth, put your feet in the grass, gaze at the clouds, and remember how interconnected we all are.

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1. Follow the intuitive nudges

Your intuition is speaking to you in subtle ways that become more familiar the more we follow them. This can be:

• feeling called towards a certain decision, you don’t know why but it’s just an is and you get to let that instinct be enough

• feeling called to calm & craving quiet moments that let you tune inward

• a shift in the energy, you don’t have to prove or over explain yourself, you trust that inner knowing is guiding you to the experience you need

Resource //

Here’s a reel on 4 ways to follow your intuitive nudges, and if you need to mix the science with the woo, Former founding member of Therabody and founder of writes on the gut microbiome & our intuition, here.

2. Stop, Collaborate & Listen

Stop, pause, collaborate with your heart & body, and listen to your own inner wisdom without judgment or override of the mind. This moment of pause lets us tune in to the subtle intuitive nudges. We so often look outside of ourselves or seek the feedback of others, but what if we just went with what felt best for us without second guessing? Try it.

Resource //

Curated songs to guide you

3. Make Micro Moves

Do small acts that build big trust. Building self-trust is like a muscle, we have to work at it to strengthen it. Make a small act to listen to your intuitive nudge and follow it the first time, or make a small promise to yourself that you can show up for. In my 7-weeks of Self-Trust course, we implement a new nourishing act for one week to make those micro moves come to life. This can be as simple as a new morning ritual, an easy to do daily habit that you look forward to, a new act of movement, etc., the choice is your’s to make with yourself.

Resource //

• Self-Trust Course Waitlist

• Free Self-Trust Reset

4. Go within

Take the time to go within through nature and meditation. I know it sounds simple, but how often are we carving out the time to really do it? Even just 10-minutes within makes a world of difference with how we respond to the world. One of my favorite ways to start the day or end the day with deep self-reflection is pulling from the Inner Compass deck.

Resource //

Grab your daily guidance

Happy trusting,

Andrea

So many of us are scared to say the wrong thing, post the post, show up in a way that is vulnerable. Because… rejection, affirming self-doubt, comparison, and shattering our confidence.

But what if you knew that speaking your truth and showing up, would get you closer to what you are wanting?

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I saw this concept by hannahexplansit… and it got me unraveling, reading in between the lines and seeing a pattern in my own life when July rolls around.

Does this timing feel significant for you to?

I shared on my IG stories that this time of the year, July & early August, seem to throw tests at me.

I presume is the astrology and point of the year mark but I’ve come to see it now as:

External reality testing internal reality.

By August, we’ve changed so much internally even if our external reality doesn’t reflect that.

And how we show up through the same external reality is, “the test.”

Will our internal growth step up to be who we are, or shrink back into old ways?

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It’s that time of the year…

July marks the seventh month, the exact halfway point of the calendar year. The exact middle of a standard year lands on July 2. And each year, July brings us:

• Cancer season (early - mid July): ruling home, family, and deep emotions

• Leo Season (late July): ruling confidence, creativity, and self-expression

Enough said.

This year’s July also threw in Mercury retrograde in Cancer (hello nostalgia & old ways), the multi-plant configuration of Barbault Basket signaling an evolutionary milestone for our collective, and a Full Moon like no other with a Jupiter Cazimi in Leo that will not happen for another twelve years.

So if this July felt full of pivots, changes, backward momentum, forward direction, confusion, thrill, and unwavering faith in what is to come even if it feels like it’s all falling a part… I’d like to think you’re right on track.

Now, “the test.”

How our external reality tests our internal changes

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Three years ago I was having the time of my life, so it looked. I was working a comfortable job at a start-up for someone else’s dream, visiting my friends in the South of France, and having new adventures abroad. Shortly after returning home, the constants in my life took a turn. Within the span of 40-days, My Nonni (grandma) passed away at the beautiful age of 101, my dad + soul mom had a hard ending, and my soul-dog was diagnosed with bone cancer. It still hurts my heart to even type that.

And that’s what this is about today, Ray’s transition, 🕊️ 7.28.2024.

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Today is Ray’s transition anniversary, or in the grief space, death anniversary. And these types of anniversaries are not something we should be afraid to speak on or share about.

Mantras I’ve held close to my heart:

• With great love, comes great loss

• The depth of my grief is in direct correlation to the height of my love // Rachel Cargle

One things for certain: I’d do it over and over again to experience such a bond and love. I have yet to be a mother in this lifetime, and I can only image the strength of that bond with the one you grow inside you. (and on the other side of that as a Mother’s daughter, I know that bond to be unlike anything else).

The look Ray and I would give each other and just know, the way he could attune to my emotions, and the ways he has showed up for me in the afterlife…. it’s miraculous. We often say “we don’t deserve animals” but I think we do. Being human is hard. An animals love helps us soften, regulate, and become more present to what truly matter: basking in the sunlight, greeting our loved ones, expressing our happiness, resting without guilt, being there for us unconditionally.

The past two years without Ray haven’t been easy, and they haven’t been all bad. To be honest, there was also relief that came with his passing, alongside a heaping of hope.

The relief of not waking up each day worried about his suffering, wondering if “this will be the day,” and putting many parts of life on hold. In anticipatory grief, you hope to have the right people around you both professionally + personally who understand, luckily, I had many that came in the forms of new and old faces.

The hope because like I shared in my reflection honoring one-year of Ray’s transition - Ray of Light - I knew how hard he was working on the “other side” to let me know he was ok. This came in the forms of what we call signs & synchronicities: messages through strangers, the right song at the right time or the one you can’t get out of your head that feels heaven sent, new found connections to people who went through the same loss with a person & pet, unexplainable feathers that feel like they are waiting for you 🪶, symbols in our everyday that we never noticed until… now.

And that’s what gives me the hope. The knowing that our loved was are now beyond us, still communicating with us, and what I hope to be, beyond ok.

So, two years later, and here’s what remains true:

• Grief, comes in waves… not just immediately after the loss, but forever. It’s up to us to ride that wave, and not get taken out from it.

• Grief, like earthquakes, has aftershocks. We share & quote this in the grief book I co-wrote with my business partner + soul-sister, It Takes A Village. The concept of this is that earthquakes have after shocks years later, you never know when they will come, but they do. It can be on a random Tuesday in the middle of the day, out of the blue. When the aftershock comes, tend do it, don’t dismiss it.

• Looking through pictures helps. I see pictures of Ray daily (ones printed and on my phone background), but I also make time to look through old pictures and savor the sweet memories. Sometimes I tear up, just wishing he was by my side, other times I smile with gratitude and that overwhelming feeling of the unconditional love he gave me, and still does in new ways.

• Grief like birth, is a universal experience, but with bad branding. Grief can be beautiful, reminds us of our village, and connects us deeper to life, others, and the world around us. It can give us another take on a rebirth to life if we allow it.

To sum it up, I am grateful for my grief. It changed who I was, for the better. 2023 me? Yes, I love her but she wasn't fully living up to her depths, and deep down, I knew that, I just didn’t know how to “fully” get there and grief let me do that.

Even though he is not physically here with his cute little red hair, adoring eyes, wagging tail, and smile, Ray Ray is always with me. In the way the rays of light shine through the trees when I look up and take in the warmth, in the music that feels like a direct message from him, in the tiny baby feathers I always seem to come across right when I need them, in the way my family & friends speak to his memories, and even through sharing like this.

When a loved one passes, we get to continue to speak about them and honor them in the ways that feel true to our hearts. That’s what keeps us, and them, alive.

With love & gratitude & Ray’s song of the day sent my way to share with you too, Cinema,

Andrea (Ray’s forever momma)

xx

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P.S.: Immense gratitude for all those who have taken part in Ray’s life, celebration, healing, and transition. If this brings warmth to your heart, you know it was for you. Thank you for being there. 🌞

And it’s amazing what we receive when we do nothing. What a concept, right?

Just like when I did my parasite detox in the spring (the last time I was “sick”), I started noticing all the dysfunction I’d been tolerating; the subtle ways I’d been saying yes when my body was quietly whispering no.

Because when we’re feeling good, we tend to say yes to it all. Yes to the coffee date, yes to the call, yes to staying up late to tackle the inbox, sometimes, it never ends.

I remember reading The Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes years ago. My mentor at the time said, “This is more like my year of no.” And I get that now, thanks, Britt :)

The more we honor our sacred no, the more we make space for the greater yes.

If we don’t have the capacity to simply be with ourselves, how will we receive the clarity for a grander yes? Our energy and our time are precious, and yet we’re so scared to just be with them. But if we don’t know them, honor them, or spend time with them, we’ll keep saying yes to everything, because we don’t truly know what direction our “yes” wants to take us.

If I don’t have the capacity — the time and space — to let God work through me, how will I have the capacity to take on all that I want to embark upon?

That’s where the sacred no comes in, and why it’s so important to just slow the fuck down. Not only when we’re sick or spiraling through a tough mental health week, but routinely. A day of tending to ourselves, our hearts, and our human spirit is just as important and productive as any work meeting, client proposal, or lunch with a friend.

Because if we don’t give ourselves space, we’ll be forced to make it.
And that space might come with a stuffy nose and body aches… or years later, when we realize we haven’t even been listening to what we want.

So why not get ahead of it? Why not make space for ourselves today?

Here are three ways to practice making space, regularly and routinely:

(spoiler alert, once includes a sloth)

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I just had a beautiful conversation with my mom about choosing different paths in life.

Doubts creep in. The inner critic gets loud. You wonder… did I make the right decision?

You feel something off. There is not the zing, nor the spark the road less traveled once brought, but also not the safety, the stability, the comfort the road well traveled offers.

So you pause and you check in. You let the questions rise, you give the doubt a voice, you let the inner critic speak. And then you answer back, you speak up for yourself. And like any emotion, once it’s heard, it begins to pass.

I was grateful to process this with my mom. Tears fell as I told her how out of place I can feel in a place that once felt so familiar. How easy it is to believe I’m the odd one out, because I’m not on the linear path.

And then I remembered why God removed me from that linear path in the first place.

My mom reminded me of the ones she’s admired who chose the road less traveled. We talked about Assata Shakur, a Black political Female activist we recently lost, who had to flee and seek asylum in Cuba because she stood for Black lives in a time when they tried to silence her, dim her, even kill her. That path… that path demanded every ounce of truth and bravery. And Assata’s light still shines as we honor the justice she brought to surface in this lifetime.

My mom also reminded me of the doubts that came up even when I was on the road well traveled. My calling for the less traveled road has always lived in me. It lived in her too once — though she hasn’t fully followed it (yet — I still believe it’s in her lifetime’s path 😉). Then the dots connected…..

When I stepped away from the familiar, God gave me a new familiar. A circle of support, therapists, expanders, entrepreneurs. People who mirrored my bravery, reflected my courage, and reminded me to trust myself in an even deeper way.

So when God removes you from something that seems so good, trust He’s still working for your good.

Because yes, the road less traveled can be isolating. It can feel lonely. But it’s in your heart for a reason. And if you are brave enough to keep going - through the twists, through the turns - you will meet others on the way. The scenic route takes more time, it asks for patience, but it gives back beauty, peace, and meaning.

So if your soul longs for it: take the scenic route. God will provide along the way.

♥️ in love and knowing,
Andrea

It all started with a friend/sister/mirror calling me out in the most loving way:

“You don’t lean on us the way we lean on you…”

Oof. Cue the inner dialogue: Am I… emotionally unavailable? 🥴

If you’re anything like me, you might tend to isolate, self-process, and only share once you’ve tied it all up with a bow. Or maybe you “lone wolf” it, the classic “I’ll figure it out” or “I can handle this” mentality. And while there’s nothing wrong with being independent (also, cannot say that word without singing this 2008 banger) I’ve realized independence can become a shield.

Because here’s the truth, when I process everything alone, I often feel done with it. Complete. But in reality, I’m cutting myself off from what makes us human - community.

We’re wired to create shared meaning through our experiences. We need to hear the reflections of the people who truly know us, our heart, and our intentions.
Sometimes, they can see what we’re blind to, other times, their support keeps us from fueling our own burnout.

So this past month, I decided to lean into community in new ways that looked like…

• Asking for support ahead of an event I was leading. I reached out to my priestess sisters and asked them to send me distance Reiki the day of. Just knowing they were holding me in prayer and energy made me feel less alone.

• Accepting practical help. Two of my best friends (who I consider sisters) showed up to help me prep, clean up, and simply be there. Their presence reminded me how much people genuinely want to support.

• Picking up the phone to share what I was moving through, not for advice, not to fix, but simply to voice it and let it leave my body.

• Letting relationships be reciprocal. On one call, I asked a client if I could take a few minutes to lean on them for something I was processing. It turned out to be a perfect exchange, since they were preparing for a keynote on the same topic.

• Saying yes when a friend invited me to stay a few extra nights. That time gave us deeper conversations, extra rest, and more soul nourishment than I realized I needed.

• Communicating my distance. As a recovering avoidant (and a Projector who needs off-grid time), I’ve started letting loved ones know: “If I’m quiet, it’s because I’m processing ___ or moving through ___. I love you and will circle back soon.” This simple honesty has felt like a breakthrough.

And if you’re reading this wondering what leaning on community could look like for you, it doesn’t have to be big or dramatic. It could be as simple as:

• Asking a friend to check in on you the morning of something important

• Inviting someone to keep you company while you do a task you’d rather not do alone

• Letting people know what kind of support you don’t need (advice, fixing) so they can show up in the way you do need

• Saying yes to help when it’s offered, even if your first instinct is to say “I’m fine”

• Being honest when you need space, instead of disappearing

Community doesn’t make us less independent, it makes us more human

Independence is beautiful, but connection is what makes us whole. I wouldn’t be who I am without the community that surrounds me. Wherever I go, I find community, and that is one of life’s greatest gifts. But there’s also reciprocity in community.

What would shift if you let someone show up for you this week? Reply below and share any ways community has uplifted you, or how you uplift your community.

🫂 With love,

Andrea

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We used to hold monthly Sunday Session calls in community, over Zoom every 1st Sunday of the month. I’d love to bring this back and meet once a quarter - if you want to join, sign-up for free, here. Every session was so healing, loving, and connected, I think we could use more of that. x

(ok, humble brag it was LL COOL J - I have so much respect for his respect for the laws of the Universe).

And wow… does that land.

The more we linger in uncertainty, wobble in indecision, or half-commit to ourselves, the more that exact energy ripples out around us - into our relationships, our work, our opportunities.

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Do you ever feel caught between carrying the weight of the world… and just wanting to feel weightless and free in your own?

While GZa, Congo, Sudan, suffer and call for our larger collective shift and healing, we’re still expected to go about our days like everything is “normal.”

As someone who studied and minored in sustainability, I’ve been aware of global suffering, and while it’s devastating and overwhelming at times, the knowing doesn’t scare me.

Because awareness is freedom; freedom from disbelief, freedom from old patterns, freedom from the numbing we use to protect ourselves.

In A New Earth, Eckhart Tolle says awareness is 90% of it. And I believe him.

This week, I’ve been bouncing between cafés for my workflow, and it hurt my heart to see us all going on with business as usual. Why isn’t GZa the first thing we mention when we greet each other? Why aren’t we talking about how to pray, what to say, or what we can do?

But then I have to ask: what part am I playing by not saying anything up front either?

What would it look like if we normalized talking about the devastation instead of pretending it isn’t there? If we acknowledged that this is not normal?

Sometimes I wish receipts at restaurants had “tip” options for nonprofits helping those in crisis. And yet I know that so many people working for tips need that money just to not suffer themselves.

This is the paradox I’m sitting with: I want to live in a world where we don’t shy away from naming destruction, but also don’t drown in despair.

And yes, I know the arguments around the law of attraction. But to me, not talking about what’s real only keeps it in the dark. The more light we shine on the truth, the more we can move toward solutions rooted in love rather than fear.

So what’s the balance?
How do we tend to our joy while also tending to the reality of the world with compassion?

I don’t have a perfect solution. But I do have a few gentle starting points:

Tend to your joy.

Yes, joy matters. The more you pour into what lights you up—whether that’s yoga, a hike in nature, a beach day, or a pottery class—the more you feed the frequency of joy in the collective. When we touch the grief of the world, we need that grounding in joy to meet it with compassion instead of collapse. So I’ll ask you: what’s one thing you can do this month that tends to your joy?

Express your anger.

Why wouldn’t we be angry to witness what’s happening in GZa? To see children starving, families suffering, lives taken unjustly? Anger is a natural, healthy response—and it deserves space to move through us. Underneath anger is often love displaced, love longing to return home.

Research.

What’s one cause close to your heart? Children in GZa? Protecting the land? Understanding Sudan? Start there. Find your why, and do a little digging. Awareness creates the bridge to action.

Use your voice.

Don’t gaslight yourself. Your voice matters. Your reposts matter. Your perspective matters. Every time you share, you normalize awareness and inspire someone else to look closer. As Ram Dass reminds us: we’re all just walking each other home.

We can hold both: the beauty of tending to our joy and the bravery of facing what’s broken.

Maybe that’s the work of this moment, walking the line between weight and weightlessness.

Let me know how this lands for you and the action steps you intend to take to become one step closer to your joy, and one step closer to collective healing in humanity.

With compassion,

Andrea 🕊️

For some of us, certain patterns loop. They revisit us through different seasons and phases of life and we are invited to meet them with new tools, new awareness, new insight. Growth and awareness are like unlocking new versions of your yourself, what was working now requires a new key to get the door open or acquire the next level. What worked before no longer opens the door, you need a new key, and it’s up to you to discern which one fits now.

The lesson that loops for me is the lesson of: s l o w i n g d o w n.

I learn it again and again, through new eyes, new voices, new experiences, but it’s always the same core message. And the more I regulate to new levels of presence, the more the old pace no longer fits.

So what key is being made for your new door this season?

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But what I’ve learned about activism, about being a voice for the voiceless, is that we can’t bypass our own feelings, our own hurt, our own needs. In fact, when we can do both - feel deeply and show up for humanity - we go much further than if we suppress our grief and create nothing at all.

With that I write about Ray. My sunshine, my angel dog on earth and and now truly, my angel dog in spirit.

My world completely shifted the day Ray was diagnosed with bone cancer. And yet, at the same time, the universe rose to meet us—with the most caring doctors, a generous community, family, friends, and even strangers. I'm at peace with it now, because I was open throughout Ray’s journey. I shared from the beginning on Instagram and in real life, and I was met with love in return.

Some of this love appeared in the ways of: an old friend and colleague offering to take professional photos of us, friends gifted drawings of images of us, the animal hospital I adopted him from showered us with support, loved ones sent loving voice notes and messages that I would read to Ray - I swear this kept his spirit alive too. And so much more, this could be an entire Substack dedicated to the love that poured in. People witnessed the magic of our bond. They saw the love between us because we shared it.

This one-year reflection, it turns out, is really about being open to sharing what we go through. Yes, some moments need to be held close and kept sacred until they’re ready, but sometimes, God places us in experiences meant to be shared while they’re happening.

I believe we go through what we go through so we can help others someday.
It makes the human experience less lonely, it creates connection, community, and meaning. It honors the beautiful, heartbreaking, heart-opening truth of being alive.

Posts created that live on my IG to support others (and continue to get likes throughout the years… knowing loss hits us all in different seasons):

• 10 things I’ve learned while navigating great loss

• 5 immediate things that have supported my grief

Losing Ray has been one of the hardest losses of my life and I’m no stranger to death (book on grief coming soon). But there’s something different with animals. Their innocence, the way they teach us without saying a word, the way they’re there for all the intimate moments of our days, not just the big milestones.

And while my heart still tugs, still yearns for my little angel dog, I feel his magic all around me.

And as much as I miss Ray in the physical, he’s also shown me the wonder of the non-physical. What my favorite medium Tyler Henry calls “meaningful coincidences” or messages from beyond. These messages have come in the form of feathers, songs, photos, dreams, messages from strangers, literal signs, he’s always with me.

So if your soul-pet is still with you, hold them close. Know they love you just as much as you love them, maybe more.

And if you’ve lost a soul-pet, know they’re still loving you. Still with you. Still sending signs.

Always.

And if you’ve received signs from the other side, share them below, or if you want me to expand on mine… I do think they are worth telling.

With love,

Andrea

Lately I’ve been experiencing my next chapter of life emerging: new energetic upgrades, internal expansion, and a calling to Topanga Canyon. Spirit seems to have gently nudged me to be off-grid again, asking me to slow down and allow my nervous system to re-regulate so it can actually receive what is coming.

And in the canyon, I’ve felt a new slowness, stillness, softness, the cycles of nature; I’ve also realized a pattern that comes with these energetic upgrades.

Back in 2022, a similar identity shift occurred when my seven-year relationship ended amidst other major changes. Life pulled me off-grid then too. In between housing transitions, I stayed with family in Northern California - barely any service, completely removed from my familiar.

Looking back, I see it so clearly now: when life is asking me to evolve, it first asks me to step away from the familiar, to be still, to reset my system, and understand this version of me underneath the noise. So when I do expand, it’s from my heart, my truth, and in a way my body can actually hold.

But if I’m honest? It can feel scary.

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Across DMs, WhatsApp, texts, calls, emails... I don’t think there’s ever a moment where I don’t have someone to respond to. Which, yes, I'm deeply grateful for, I love my community. But also? It's a lot. My texts need a bounce-back message at this point.

And when the weight of it all starts turning into the weight of guilt, I pause to remind myself:
This actually isn’t normal.

Remember when we didn’t text constantly? When we just called each other on the landline? (If you're under 20 reading this, then okay... maybe I don’t remember either.) But seriously, we weren’t always this available. And it’s still okay not to be.

When did the rules change?
How did we collectively stretch our nervous systems to handle this level of constant connection?

We went from writing letters, to landlines, to flip phones that only made calls, to texting, to 5G and full-blown digital access 24/7—all in a very short span of time. And yes, I know we have DND, Focus Mode, Work Mode, Sleep Mode... but how many of us actually live by those modes? For more than a few hours a day?

The truth is... most of us don’t.

Some days I want to throw my phone off a cliff. Other days, I panic without it. So what’s the solution? Is there a middle ground that doesn’t feel like punishment or escapism?

This past weekend over a panel, spoke about her unique superpower: setting boundaries, actually sticking to them, and inspiring others to do the same. And it got me thinking, maybe it starts there.

Here are a few small (but mighty) shifts I’m trying:

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So what is the IG Ick, and how did we get here?

I came across a funny TikTok where someone was joking about how “Instagram is crunchy,” and how TikTok is the happier place to be. They were being lighthearted, but it really stuck with me, and it lodged in my subconscious.

Over the last three months, I’ve been showing up consistently on TikTok. While my following is still small, the community that’s been built there—the new people I’ve met, the comments and messages shared—have been so special. I’m even in talks for a virtual wine night with a new friend. I’ve reconnected with people from my past, exchanged resources and recommendations that have genuinely bettered my life.

I feel seen. I get to show up and support others, and they do the same for me. It’s really felt like its own little world in a quiet corner of TikTok. So... there’s that.

Then there’s also the energetic shift I’m moving through. Anyone else?

We’ve had a lot happening astrologically, and I know many of us are feeling the collective and personal shedding of old versions of ourselves. And with that shedding, for me, came the repel from Instagram.

If I can’t show up authentically (yes, I know that word is overused, but it fits), I can’t show up at all. I’m not the type to “fake it till you make it” on socials. I listen to the pings, the downloads, the intuitive nudges, what wants to be said, what’s on my heart, and how I’m being guided to show up.

That’s why my followings are small but mighty. I’m able to connect with my community deeply.

With these energetic shifts, I started to feel the “crunchiness” that TikToker was talking about. The comments on IG are dry. Is anyone even scrolling the timeline anymore? It feels like most of us are just tapping through Stories to dissociate—over-consuming friend updates, news updates, meme updates...

And honestly, it’s all just too much right now.

It’s not that I’m avoiding the state of the world—I care deeply—but I’m recognizing how much input we’re taking in on a daily basis. And when you’re moving through an energetic upgrade, your system becomes more discerning, more sensitive to what it’s receiving. Overconsumption hits differently.

So, I listened to the pull. I threw a few updates in Stories, continuing to acknowledge the ick and remind others they’re not alone in feeling it. Honor the natural pull when it comes, it’s there for a reason.

When we honor an energetic nudge, we allow our energy to be guided toward what does feel right. And if something wants to pull you in a new direction... why not let it?

In sum, like Drake says in Race My Mind, "retrograde energy shifts are what I was made for." (IYKYK.)

And according to a quick Google search via Spiritual Gangster, retrogrades spin the energy inward, giving us deeper access to our heart, intuition, and inner compass.

Listen to that energy shift, disconnect, honor the ick, and go inward.

I’d love to hear from you
Are you feeling the social ick, too? What platforms feel nourishing—or draining—for you right now? Take the poll, hit reply or leave a comment. Let’s talk about it.

Hi from LA (but there’s a catch) —

It didn’t feel right to complete this series anywhere but in the EU, so here we are, part 3 of 3, written on my final full day in Spain before returning to Los Angeles.

Before there was my time in Madrid, there was my week long spiritual immersion in Portugal, healing the mother wound, working with the Mother Mary and Mary Magdalene, and creating a momentum of miracles. Let’s rewind.

I took flight on March 31st, arriving in Portugal for the first time. Lisbon welcomed me with a familiarity. I did the sign of the cross as an ambulance went by on my Uber ride to my Airbnb, and the driver looked at me in the rearview mirror with a smile. We didn’t speak the same language, but we spoke the same humanness. The next day we gathered in Ericeira, a coastal town about 30 minutes from Lisbon where we began a sacred week-long spiritual immersion as part of my 9-month priestess program.

This immersion, held with my fellow priestesses and our mentor Amber Valdez, is rooted in deep feminine leadership and ancient remembrance. Over these nine months, we work intimately with the divine feminine, particularly the energies of Mother Mary and Mary Magdalene, birthing a new paradigm of leadership guided by womb wisdom, intuition, and sacred service. (Yes, 9 months, 9 priestesses, 9 year, it’s all intentional, and symbolic).

Our immersion began by honoring the land and waters of Portugal, offering prayers and gifts to Mama Oshun, Goddess of fresh water, associated with fertility, love, and healing. In reverence, we acknowledged the sacredness of the ground we’d be held by, because before we ask to receive, we must give thanks.

What takes place on a spiritual immersion…

This week in Portugal was a portal of profound somatic healing and spiritual remembrance. We worked with the mother wound, our ancestral lines of our grandmothers and with the divine mothers themselves. We honored the girl inside each of us… the parts that want attention, have been wounded, and yearn to heal.

In sacred ceremony, we scream, cry, dance, and pray. We open our throat chakras, our heart space, and move the energy through our body that stores emotion. With the support of Amber’s ceremonial guidance, sacred drumming, sage, and music that stirs the spirit, we allow energy to move freely. We invite our ancestors, our angels, and indigenous practices into the space where the body becomes the altar.

There’s a sacred transformation that takes place when we gather in this way, one that transcends words and worlds. It’s why we don’t document these moments with phones or video. It reminds me of the teachings of Chief Seattle, a Duwamish spiritual leader who famously said, “There is no death, only a change of worlds.” He refused to be photographed, believing that sacred things are meant to be lived, not captured. Not explained, but felt.

And we felt.

For the first time, I connected with the goddess Shakti, the divine feminine creative power in Hinduism. She is the energy of creation itself, of movement, sensuality, and liberation. I felt her pulse through my sacral and hip. I also saw an aura for the first time. These gifts have always been within me. Within all of us. We only need to quiet the world around us long enough to and allow our gifts to come through.

Throughout the week, we visited sacred sites known to be portals to the Marys. We started with Fátima, where the Virgin Mary is said to have appeared to three shepherd children in 1917, radiating light and messages of peace. We also journeyed to Sintra, to an ancient initiation well once used for ceremonial initiations where we honored Mary Magdalene with offerings of roses, anointed ourselves with the healing waters, and felt the feminine devotion from past and present.

Why the Priestess path?

Mary Magdalene, once mischaracterized and misunderstood, is now being remembered for who she truly was: a spiritual teacher, a divine feminine embodiment, and a sacred partner to Yeshua. Through her and Mother Mary, we are guided to reclaim the feminine codes of love, compassion, and creative power. The rose is their symbol, representing an ancient emblem of the sacred feminine. High in frequency, soft in strength, the rose reminds us to bloom open, layer by layer.

When we priestesses gather, we live in the frequency of the rose. Everything becomes synchronicity and harmonious as we enter into a sacred field of remembrance that feels like a natural high, because it is. This is the truth of energetic alignment.

But don’t mistake this harmony for bypass. These ceremonies require us to meet our shadows so that grief, rage, fear, and heartbreak come through. We hold space for it all because true feminine power doesn’t deny the dark, it embraces it as holy.

We’re all connected

In our final days, we honored olive trees—symbols of peace and endurance—offering prayers for mothers in Palestine and all places experiencing suffering. We prayed and honored mothers near and far, knowing that when one mother suffers, all mothers feel it. We are not separate, we are one.

This work also activates the death doula and water priestess within, those who support others through transition, grief, and energetic rebirth. It was no coincidence that upon leaving Portugal and arriving in Madrid, I found myself holding space for a dear friend navigating her own death-and-rebirth chapter with new spiritual offerings, a new home, and a new self emerging.

The more we work on ourselves, the more we can show up in service to others. That is the path, that is the work.

At 33, I feel more magnetic, more loving, and more me than I’ve ever been. This work has changed me, and I trust if you’re reading this, it’s also calling something forward in you. Because you wouldn’t be here if you weren’t sacred too.

As this series comes to a close, I feel ready for the next chapter of writings and musings awaiting to unfold and flow. Reflecting on this past month of integration, spiritual immersion, and energetic alignment has been cathartic, fun, and magical. I trust that what’s next will unfold just as easily.

Thank you for walking this path with me. I hope to see your own postcard of your path soon, your journey deserves to be documented and remembered. 💌

Con amour,
Andrea

🌹

If this spoke to you, you might love my 7-week Self Trust course, designed to help you come home to yourself, build intuitive confidence, and create clarity from the inside out. Doors open again soon. Make sure you're on the waitlist linked HERE.

Hola desde Madrid!

Everything has been working out for me. Not in a rose-colored-glasses kind of way,
but in a rooted, real, embodied way.

In a "my outer world is starting to match my inner world" kind of way.
And as I get older, as I walk new paths and stretch into unfamiliar lands, I feel it more clearly: energetic alignment is everything.

But what is energetic alignment and why does it sound woo-woo? Before I scare you off, here is what energetic alignment is to me:

• The frequency that your soul, your intuition, your heart—whatever you want to call it—naturally lives at: joy. ease. wonder.

• Being in rhythm with the frequency of your inner being (your intuition, your gut instincts)

It’s not some far-off, mysterious thing.
It’s the most you thing there is.

If I had read this a few years ago, I might’ve tilted my head and thought,
“Okay…but what does that really mean?”

So here’s what helped me start to understand:

Abraham Hicks says,

“You’re not manifesting what you want. You’re manifesting what you are a vibrational match to.”

And Dr. Joe Dispenza teaches,

“Your personality creates your personal reality.”
“To change your life is to change your energy—to become greater than the environment, greater than the body, and greater than time.”

What they’re both really saying is:
How you feel matters.
Who you be matters.
And when you shift your energy, your world begins to shift too.

Said another way:
When you tune into peace, joy, wonder, and worthiness, you don’t just feel better.
You become a magnet for experiences that mirror those exact feelings.

This time abroad has brought that truth front and center.
Travel brings me back to my frequency.
It strips the roles, the noise, the expectations.
It lets me meet myself again.

There’s something about arriving in a new city that whispers:
You can be whoever you want here.
You don’t have to carry anything that doesn’t feel like you.

And that’s the thing,
You don’t have to travel to feel this.
You don’t have to be far away to feel free.

You just have to choose yourself.
Again and again.
In the quietest, simplest, most loving of ways.

Like letting the sun hit your face and letting it feel good.
Like choosing rest when the world wants hustle.
Like asking yourself, “What do I need right now?” and honoring the answer.

That version of you becomes alive every time you choose yourself.
You don’t need to go far to feel free.

When we travel, we shift.
Our reality bends toward wonder. The colors feel brighter, the conversations seem sweeter, and even the most mundane—ordering a coffee or crossing the street—feels somehow enchanted.

That’s not just magic, it’s neuroscience.

Dr. Joe Dispenza teaches that novelty helps us rewire our brain. New environments spark neuroplasticity, allowing us to create new emotional patterns and energetic states. When we’re curious, we’re creative. When we’re present, we’re powerful. This is how we change our frequency.

But what if you didn’t have to get on a plane to feel that aliveness?

Last year, when I moved to LA, I invited our Home Base Collective community to live like a tourist in their own city. To take the long way home. To notice the scent of the jasmine on the corner. To see their lives with fresh eyes. Because it’s not just the place, it’s the presence.

And still, it’s so easy to fall into routine.
To lose the spark.
To forget the truth: that joy and awe are daily frequencies, not once-a-year experiences.

This is the heartbeat of my work.

Helping others return to the version of themselves that lives in wonder. The version that remembers they are the creator. The version that is always free, even when circumstances feel tight.

These thoughts are landing for me now—and feel easier to translate—because of the integration period I’ve allowed myself to be in. I haven’t been over-journaling or over-processing. I’ve simply been being. Not rushing to figure it all out. Not stressing about what or how I’ll write the next piece in this series. Just trusting that when my heart is ready, the words will come.

And they did, right here, sitting at a grocery store café, eating quiche. No forcing. Just flowing.

Which brings me back to the thread woven throughout this piece: energetic alignment.

That’s what travel gifts us. A new energetic frequency that sings to the best of our soul. Travel helps us shed the old stories and identities, we show up to new places and spaces as newer, freer versions of ourselves.

But that version of us? She’s always available.
Energetic alignment isn’t reserved for international flights or special occasions.

It begins with presence.
With slowing down.
With listening to the soft voice inside that says, you don’t have to try so hard.

Quieting the mind. Sharing our stories. Letting go of shame, of blame, of narratives that don’t belong to us anymore. That’s where the freedom lives.

Your inner being—your intuition—is always speaking.
It wants to be loved, seen, heard, and cherished, not just when you’re on a dreamy vacation, but every single day.
The soul knows. The heart speaks. You just have to know you’re worthy enough to listen.

In Self-Trust, my 7-week guided program, one of the rituals we work with is called a week of nourishing acts.
Because nourishing acts help us shift the frequency of our everyday.

Maybe it’s waking up to make a celery juice each morning, because it reminds you that your body is worthy of love and care.
Maybe it’s choosing to explore a new coffee shop or walking a different route just to prove to yourself that life can still surprise you.

This is what it means to co-create your reality.
Even a small act of intention can rewire the story you’re living in.
That’s what makes it nourishing, not because it’s grand, but because it’s expansive.

And if you’re in a season where big change feels out of reach—maybe you’re stuck in an apartment that drains you, or a job you’re outgrowing—this is especially for you.

I’ve been there. Convincing myself it wasn’t possible for people like me.
But when you beat yourself down with lack, the universe mirrors it. The law of attraction doesn’t distinguish between reality and repetition, it just delivers what you continue to expect.

So what if, instead of saying, “That’s not for me,”
you took yourself on a walk through a new neighborhood?
You toured homes that feel out of reach, not because you’re faking it, but because you’re reminding your subconscious that it exists.
And if it exists for someone else, it can exist for you too.

That’s not delusion. That’s alignment.

Because alignment begins with evidence. And nourishing acts are how we collect that evidence, day by day, moment by moment.

So this week, I invite you to choose one nourishing act.
Something small, sacred, and new.
Watch how it shifts your frequency.
Watch how it reminds you:
You’re not stuck. You’re simply being asked to remember your power.

Cuídate,

Andrea

And if you’re ready to go deeper into this work—with a community, tools, and soulful accountability—my Self-Trust program will be opening again soon. I’d love to walk this path with you. Join the waitlist, HERE.

🌿 Bonus Prompt: Coming Home to You – A Gentle Prompt for Your Path

As a thank you for journeying with me through Postcards from the Path, I created a soft, soulful bonus prompt just for you. It’s a gentle invitation to tune back into your inner frequency, wherever you are in the world:

If you were to live today as if you were already in energetic alignment—already in rhythm with the most joyful, worthy, wonder-filled version of you—
✨ What would you say yes to?
✨ What would you lovingly let go of?
✨ What would you do differently, even just slightly?

Let these questions be soft invitations, not pressure points. There is no right answer, only your honest one.

And if it helps, put on a song that lifts your spirit, close your eyes, and breathe into the version of you who already knows the way home.

Oi de Portugal!

It’s been one week since our 5-day immersion with the Priestess program I’ve been in with my mentor, Amber Valdez and 8 other women (a write up on this program + immersion to come in this mini-series!).

Before this closing ceremony, I felt the pull to stay in Portugal longer, to wander, work remotely, and listen deeply for the next breadcrumb of my path. No over-planning, no rigid timelines. Just me, my breath, and the wisdom that reveals itself in stillness.

I’m learning that the in-between spaces are sacred.

In this slower stretch of solo time, I’ve been practicing something I guide others through in Self Trust: what I call A Day Within, a few hours of quiet, no technology, no external noise. Just presence. Just inner listening.

It’s in these moments I can actually hear what’s next.

And this time within? It’s how we connect to our truest desires or, our deepest yeses.
It might reveal something major like a life transition or career shift.
Or something tender and quiet: a craving for a specific food, a song, a stretch that your body has been silently asking for. But we don’t know until we pause. Until we stop chasing and start listening.

And while we can find spaces for this almost anywhere, I always recommend nature.

Nature is healing, grounding, and always loving. She doesn’t ask us to perform. She just welcomes us back.

In Japan, doctors actually prescribe forest bathing—known as Shinrin-yoku—as a treatment for stress, anxiety, and overall wellbeing. It’s been scientifically shown to lower cortisol, heart rate, and blood pressure while boosting immune function and mental clarity.

Nature is one of our greatest teachers.
So instead of always pushing or providing… let nature provide.
Let the forest remind you that rest is holy.
That you don’t have to be doing to be worthy.
Hug a tree. Put your feet in the soil. Let the magic stimulate your soul.

Ever since my spiritual awakening in 2020, I’ve been meeting the many versions of myself that live beneath the surface; some bold, some tender, some still afraid, some ready to be seen. I used to think healing was about fixing them. Now I know it’s about loving all of them home.

And while this unfolding is a gift, I also know it’s a privilege.

My ancestors didn’t have the time, safety, or resources to slow down and tend to their wounds. They worked. They survived. They didn’t get to ask, What is my soul calling me toward?

I carry their memory as I walk this path. These are some of the images I shared in our immersion as we worked with our grandmothers and honored them over our time together in Portugal.

I also carry the knowing that right now, across the world—in Gaza and so many places—families are simply trying to survive another day. I’ve wrestled with this often—how to hold my joy alongside the world’s grief. How to allow myself to expand without shame.

But I’ve come to realize: hiding my light doesn’t help anyone.
Suppressing my gifts doesn’t create more safety—it just keeps me stuck.

So, here I am, letting myself be seen.

Not because I have it all figured out. But because I’m living it. I’m devoted to making the invisible pieces of this journey tangible. To help others come home to themselves too.

This chapter is about integration.
About being in the body.
About turning toward every edge within me and whispering, you’re allowed to be here too.

The path of self-discovery isn’t linear. It’s layered, long, and full of holy pauses.
But I truly believe it is the privilege of a lifetime to remember who you really are, and to live from that place.

Here are two resources that have been a constant in my spiritual education:

• Abraham Hicks (daily YouTube videos + live seminars)

• Eckhart Tolle (A New Earth)

And this truth:

You don’t need to keep chasing more healing to be worthy of what’s already meant for you.

Sometimes, the moment of realization is the healing.
You’re allowed to feel it and let it land.

That’s enough.
You’re enough.
And you didn’t miss it, it arrived right on time.

With love from Portugal,
Andrea

If this spoke to you, you might love my 7-week Self Trust course, designed to help you come home to yourself, build intuitive confidence, and create clarity from the inside out. Doors open again soon. Make sure you're on the waitlist linked HERE.

Have you ever felt that knot in your stomach when anticipating a tough conversation?

At 33, with a Master's in Communication Studies, I've come to understand that the weight we attribute to difficult conversations often intensifies our anxiety. The anticipation can manifest physically as tightness in the chest, restlessness, or a pervasive sense of being overwhelmed. Whether it's addressing a sensitive issue with a loved one or tackling a workplace dilemma, these discussions can be daunting. But here's the silver lining: confronting them head-on often leads to personal growth and stronger relationships.

I am here to tell you I feel you, I have been there. And, with time, I’m also here to tell you, it gets easier! In fact, research shows we naturally look out for ourselves as self-protection was the most consistently found reason related to topic avoidance (​​Afifi, W. A., & Guerrero, L. K., 1998). So, let’s navigate the hard conversation together.

  “The only way out is through” - Robert Frost

Recently, I found myself in a situation where I needed to discuss alternative living arrangements with my landlords due to an extended absence. The alternative options included subletting, giving my 30-day notice, or brainstorming other solutions. The mere thought of the conversation was anxiety-inducing. What if they said no? I would then have to uproot my living situation entirely, pushing me into the dreaded apartment hunt upon my return. But then I thought, what if they're open to my ideas? What if this conversation strengthens our rapport and builds trust? This allowed me to reframe my perspective, also knowing that an open discussion could lead to solutions I hadn't even considered.

With this mindset, I drafted my thoughts, chose a suitable time, and initiated the conversation. I started with a friendly hello, laid out my situation, proposed alternatives, and emphasized my openness to discuss things further in person. Talking in person can break the communication barriers of tone, nonverbal cues, and create closeness. The result? A grateful reply, a yes to having a face-to-face chat, and a solution that worked for all of us. That heavy cloud of uncertainty? Gone. To my relief, they were receptive, and we collaboratively found an arrangement that suited us all. This experience reinforced a valuable lesson: the anticipation of a hard conversation is often more stressful than the conversation itself.

“We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak” - Epictetus

Now, I won't pretend all tough conversations are this straightforward. I've navigated the challenging, “capital H” Hard conversations when ending a seven-year relationship, mending mother-daughter wounds, resolving friendship rifts, and tackling workplace conflicts. Through it all, I've learned that listening—truly listening—is as crucial as speaking. It's about meeting the other person where they are, understanding their perspective, and finding common ground.

So, how can we prepare for these challenging dialogues? Reflect on your communication patterns by using the following steps:

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Photo by Christaan Felber for Vulture

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Fires erupted throughout LA on January 7th. Balloonerism dropped on January 17th. Mac’s birthday was January 19th.

In an eerie time when many are feeling the weight of the world, Mac Miller’s posthumous album arrived like a cosmic nod—his life, his legacy, his music, all celebrated in perfect synchronicity. The lows that Mac felt in his lifetime, the demons he battled, and the depths he swam through mirror what many of us are collectively feeling. But here’s the thing: Mac Miller’s lyrics and wisdom aren’t just relics of his genius; they are tools to help us navigate our own lows.

Why Mac’s Music Still Guides Us

Mac felt deeply. He wasn’t afraid to be both silly and successful. And he loved openly.

The truths he grasped and conveyed through his lyrics are the same revelations many only come to understand near the end of their lives. It’s no wonder he called himself a tortured soul. The existential questions he wrestled with as a teenager and young adult—questions of purpose, self-worth, and the fleeting nature of life—are the very ones that haunt us later in life. That kind of knowing can feel isolating, lonely, uncertain. But Mac found his outlet: music.

His albums were ahead of their time. Balloonerism was originally created in 2014, yet its 2025 release sounds like it was made present day. That’s the magic of Mac—his music is timeless because his soul was always operating outside of time.

The Divine Feminine & the Depths of Mac’s Soul

In his early 20s, Mac was already grasping the essence of the Divine Feminine—not just honoring women and the sacred wisdom of the womb, but understanding Mother Earth, Pachamama, the slow and intentional unfolding of a flower in bloom. He was in tune with the rhythms of the universe in a way most people never reach.

Like the Cancer Moon he was, he felt everything. And like the Capricorn Sun that grounded him, he was relentless in his dedication to his craft. While he took music seriously, he was also a fan of life, of play, of keeping his inner child alive.

In Balloonerism’s Excelsior he asks:
"Whatever happened to apple juice and cartwheels?"

Even in his most profound moments, Mac never lost his ability to laugh. On Rick’s Piano, you can hear him joking: "Okay, enough f’ing around,"followed by laughter. In We featuring CeeLo Green, he keeps the raw, unfiltered moment: "You gotta deal with Mac Miller, b*tch," said with a grin. Ariana’s laughter opens My Favorite Part. He left the bloopers in because life wasn’t supposed to be so serious.

Mac Knew What Mattered

Despite his fame, Mac never let materialism define him. In an interview, he admitted that the only expensive thing he ever splurged on was a custom G-Wagon. Otherwise? He rocked Vans (shoutout to his inner-teen), his own merch inspired by album covers designed by his brother Miller, and a Studio City bucket hat that looked like it could’ve been picked up from CVS.

Like many prophets before him, Mac understood the deeper meaning of life—happiness isn’t found in things, and success doesn’t define the soul.

"Please don’t tell me I made it, that’s how people get jaded," he raps in Funny Papers from Balloonerism.

Lifting Others & Elevating the Moment

Mac wasn’t just about his own shine—he lifted others up.

Performing with Ariana, he would gesture toward the heavens as her voice soared. In a live version of Objects in the Mirror, he improvised a verse about being late, laughed about it, then told the band, "Wait, hit the hook one time," letting the crowd take over. He was in awe, grinning, "That’s right, baby. That’s f**ing tight. That was good for not practicing."

He refused to be boxed in. Hip-hop, jazz, lo-fi, alternative—Mac did it all. Under his producer alias Larry Fisherman, he even dropped a jazz album. And we can’t talk about his legacy without mentioning his NPR Tiny Desk performance, which now has over 120 million views. There, in that intimate space, he called out Thundercat for a round of applause and gave his bandmate a playful nod for shaking the maracas—no one was left out.

Music as Medicine

I’ll say it outright: music is my favorite form of art.

Music is medicine. Literally. Frequencies speak to our nervous system. Music is poetry, therapy, a time capsule of emotion. It has held me through every chapter of life, made me feel less alone in every season.

Mac noticed the details, found meaning in the small things, and translated them for the masses.

So here’s to Mac—his music, his wisdom, his light. And here’s to you, moving through the highs and lows, knowing that you, too, are a shining light.

Here are some lyrics to guide you through:

On Love / Divine Feminine

• ROS (Rain or Shine):

  • "Give me all of your love, I will be yours through rain and through shine"

  • "I am the king, you are the queen, look at this chess we’re playing, we had a love that love was record-breaking"

  • "Feel free to fall, you are a catch”

  • “I want to take care of you, marry you, something I’m prepared to do, there can’t be two”

  • "Mother Earth made us all a gift, she made you perfect"

• Congratulations:

  • “I see your eyes look through my soul”

  • “I felt the highs and they felt like you”

  • “You too divine to just be mine”

• Ladders:

  • "Waking up I open up my eyes, do you mind if I blow your mind? A little closer baby, don't be shy"

• I’ll be there:

  • "She know I love her, the world's best mother, yeah it ain't fair, so I’m gonna take care of her in her gray hair"

• Objects in the Mirror

  • “A thought is love's currency, and I been thinking about her all the time”

• Stay

  • “It's only she and I, ocean floor, how deep we dive”

On Life

• Friendly Hallucinations:

  • "Hold on and be strong, kneel before your king, the land you put your knees on, it won't be long 'til your path finds ya"

• Funny Papers:

  • "I heard the answer in the gibberish of an old drum, all he said was he's in no rush"

  • "Don't you love silence, everything quiet but the music"

• Oy Vey:

  • "They seem surprised with the look that's in their eyes, how I can be myself and do away with their disguise"

• I’ll Be There:

  • "Sunshine or prayer, I’ll be there. Through the good times or bad, I’ll be there"

  • "See, I was 6 years old with a dream, and my mom told me I could do anything"

On Hard Times / Self-Reflection

• Rick’s Piano:

  • "The best is yet to come"

  • "Please don't give me any credit, that's how people get jaded"

  • "People start to get worse once they think they're the greatest"

  • "I wonder if the truth comes with a song, and if it does, I wonder if we'll get to sing along"

• Small Worlds:

  • “Do you want it all if it’s all mediocre, staring at the wall and the wall full of posters, looking at my dream, who I wanna be, I guess you gotta see it to believe”

  • “Oh I’ve been a fool but its cool thats what human beings do, keep your eyes to the sky never glued to your shoes, guess there was a time when my mind was consumed, but the sun is coming out now, cloud starts to move”

  • "9 times out of 10, I get it wrong, that's why I wrote this song, tell myself to hold on"

  • "Win or lose, win or lose, I don’t keep count, ain’t nobody checking"

• 2009:

  Bonus fact - In an interview, Producer Eric G said Mac paced around for a bit and did the first whole half of the song in a pitch black booth with no phone or anything, “it just came off the top of his head like that. He does the whole first half, and he goes, ‘Oh, that was tight.’ Then he did the rest a little later, but he didn’t write anything down, or anything. It was really crazy to watch.”

  • "I don’t have it all, but that’s alright to me"

  • "Sometimes I wish I took a simpler route instead of having demons as big as my house"

  • "Isn’t it funny, we can make a lot of money, buy a lot of things, just to feel a lot of ugly?"

  • "Nowadays, all I do is shine, take a breath and ease my mind"

  • "Life ain't a life till you live it"

  • "With these arms, I can carry you home, I'm right here when you're scared and alone"

  • "And I'm pro when it comes to my job, but really, I'm just trying to start believing in God"

  • "When it gets hard, I don't panic. I don't sound the alarm"

• Come Back to Earth

  • “And I was drownin', but now I'm swimmin', through stressful waters to relief”

For the Now

• Circles:
  "Don't you put any more stress on yourself, it's one day at a time"

• Ladders:
  "I wouldn’t wait forever, just shoot your shot, we don’t need no more, no extras, we all we got"

• Programs:

  • “Yeah, I'm only keepin' good company. I am not talkin' to you if you don't have love for me”

• Small Worlds:

  • “We don’t need nothing but today”

Mindset & Resilience

• Blue World:

  • "Fuck the bullshit, I'm here to make it all better with a little music for you."

  • "Think I lost my mind, reality is so hard to find when the devil's trying to call your life"

  • "Shit, I always shine, even when the light dims. No, I ain't God, but I'm feeling just like him"

• Ladders:

  • "All I wanna do is free your mind, we don't see no lines, we don’t color inside”

  • "I don't trip, flip or lose my grip"

  • "Before you know me, better know yourself"

• Objects in the Mirror:

  • “Don't even say you about to end it all. Your life precious ain't a need to go and kill yourself”

  • “It seems perfection really is unattainable”

  • “I wish you caught me on a different day, when it was easier to be happy”

  • “I wish the truth would just reveal itself”

• What’s the Use?:

  • “You can love it, you can leave it, they say you're nothing without it, don't let them keep you down”

• Come Back to Earth

  • “Don't you know that sunshine don't feel right when you inside all day?” (aka, get outside!)

Additional Resources

• Mac Miller Fund, established in 2018, supports young musicians with resources to help realize their full potential through exploration, expression and community.

• SAMHSA substance abuse helpline, 1-800-662-HELP

• Supporting a loved one through recovery, with Mayim Bialik on Bialik Breakdown podcast

Notable Quotes and Clips from Mac

• “As long as I’m being honest, I don’t have anything to trip about, because I know the type of human being my parents raised, I trust in who I am as a person.”

• “You know what doesn’t feel good, is not taking any risks. The more you do the things you’re afraid of, the more you see the things that you are afraid of and all bullshit in your head.”

• “Smile at someone today, make somebody happy, you have more power than you think you do.”

• “If you have a creative mind, you’re gonna doubt a lot of things about the world, and that’s all completely normal. Insecurity is all completely normal, especially with your own work, you gotta start being cool with letting people get to know you on a deeper level.”

• Studio11tv on the life of Mac Miller and the lasting impact he had on millions of people

• Mac Miller: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert