Let’s be real for a second: healing isn’t some picture-perfect, magical moment that you see in Instagram quotes with glitter, butterflies, and calming sage smoke. (And hey, we love a good vibe too!) But true healing? It’s raw, uncomfortable, often confusing, and undeniably human. It’s not all peace and light it’s showing up even when it feels messy and hard.
If you’re in the middle of it right now questioning everything, wondering why it hurts more before it gets better, or feeling like you’re taking one step forward and two-and-a-half steps back you’re not doing it wrong. You’re doing it exactly right.
Healing is Not Linear (And That’s Not Just a Cute Phrase)
You’ve probably heard the phrase, “healing isn’t linear,” but let’s talk about what that actually means. It means some days you’ll feel like you’re glowing and growing hydrated, journaled, meditated, boundary-setting like a boss. And other days? You might be crying in the shower, ghosting your group chat, and eating cookies in bed at 2 a.m.
Guess what? Both of those days are valid. Both are part of healing.
Healing looks like showing up to therapy when you don’t feel like it. It looks like setting a boundary and then lying awake wondering if you were “too much.” It looks like choosing not to argue with someone who doesn’t deserve access to your peace. It looks like rest. It looks like rage. It looks like grace.
Sometimes Healing Feels Like Grief
No one tells you that healing might break your heart before it restores it. You start to see the patterns you used to call “normal.” You realize how much you’ve tolerated in the name of love, family, or survival. You begin to mourn old versions of yourself even the ones that hurt you.
That grief? That’s sacred. It means you’re waking up to your worth. It means you’re shedding what no longer fits. You’re learning that peace doesn’t come from pretending you’re okay it comes from honoring that you’re not.
You Will Be Triggered, But You Will Also Be Transformed
Let’s keep it real: healing stirs things up. When you start the work, old stuff will come to the surface. That’s not a sign to quit. That’s a sign the healing is working.
You might get triggered in therapy, or in Target, or on Tuesday afternoon when someone says something that hits a nerve. It’s okay. Triggers are not proof that you’re broken they’re roadmaps to where your wounds still live. And when you know where those wounds are? You can start to tend to them with intention, instead of avoidance.
You’re Allowed to Rest, Too
Healing doesn’t mean grinding your way to wellness. It’s not about constantly doing inner child work, shadow work, full moon rituals, and emotional excavations until you’re exhausted. (Whew.)
Sometimes healing looks like watching trash TV and not feeling guilty. It looks like naps. Like saying no. Like laughing with your whole chest. Like choosing joy even when you’re still working through pain.
Rest is not a reward for healing; it’s part of it.
Growth Looks Different on Everybody
Don’t compare your process to someone else’s progress. Just because someone else is out here soft-launching their healing era on social media doesn’t mean they aren’t crying offscreen. Growth is often quiet. It shows up in the way you pause before reacting. In the way you forgive yourself quicker. In how you speak to yourself with more kindness.
It may not be obvious to others, but it is changing you.
In Case No One Told You Lately
You are doing better than you think. You are not behind. You are not broken. You are not weak for needing support.
You are brave for even wanting to be better. You are strong for showing up for yourself in a world that profits off your pain. And you are worthy of a life that feels like freedom, not just survival.
You Don’t Have to Do It Alone
Therapy can be a safe space to explore all of this to unpack the messy middle and make sense of your story. It won’t always be easy, but it will always be worth it.
Healing isn’t pretty, but it is powerful. And so are you.
With love, truth, and a warm hug for the journey,
April Sawyer, LPC
Free Your Mind Counseling and Consulting Services
Serving Georgia and Florida | Helping adults reclaim their joy, peace, and purpose