Loving yourself changes everything and nothing, yet makes everything a little kinder, full of grace and ease.

We are half way through 2025, it is a nine year. I am 8 months into my Substack journey. I am sharing my smile, my voice, my deep appreciate and gratitude for this space, and an invitation to connect more.

Eight months ago, I took a leap of faith and joined Substack, answering a call that had echoed in my heart for years: “You need to write a book about your story.”

Today, as I reflect on this journey, I barely recognize the woman I was in 2012, and I am endlessly grateful for every twist and turn that brought me here.

2012 marked the end of the Mayan calendar; a cosmic invitation for endings and beginnings.

For me, it was the beginning of what I call my Tower moment, that profound tarot archetype of necessary destruction that clears the way for rebirth.

Can you recall something pivotal about 2012, life changing?

I would really love to know and appreciate you sharing.

that year, my world crumbled: arrest, divorce, and a complete loss of self-recognition. I stood before the mirror, a stranger to myself, and made a choice that would change everything; I dedicated myself to yoga and the sacred work of learning to love the woman staring back at me.

Through yoga teacher training and mentorship, I discovered the transformative power of self-inquiry, becoming a certified facilitator through Clarity Coaching in the profound work of Byron Katie. In 2018, I made another courageous choice; ending a relationship to remain single, continuing the essential work of learning to love myself fully. This journey wasn’t always easy.

My children and I flowed together through homelessness, moving seven times in two years, each transition teaching us resilience, adaptability, and the strength found in staying connected to love even when everything else felt uncertain.

Then came 2024 and perhaps the biggest leap of all; moving to Hawaii to be with my daughter and grandson, following the pull of family and the island’s healing energy. In 2025, I birthed my book, Courageous Compassion, into the world. Now, as I complete my final two classes toward graduation, I continue sharing my deepest passion through Substack: the transformative power of compassion.

I am a compassion crusader because I believe with every fiber of my being that the path to expansion, service, and true contentment lies in fully embodying compassion. When we learn to hold ourselves and others with this tender strength, the entire world benefits. This ripple effect is not just beautiful; it’s essential for our collective healing.

What are you passionate about?

If you could be remembered for just one thing, what would your hearts desire be?

My love extends beyond the human realm to embrace our magnificent Earth and her seasons, those eternal teachers of cycles, renewal, and grace. I am deeply attuned to our energetic nature as human beings, understanding that we are not separate from the natural world but woven into its very fabric. The seasons mirror our inner landscapes—times of planting seeds, growing, harvesting wisdom, and resting into renewal. This connection to Earth’s rhythms has been my anchor through every transformation.

Being in this space, sharing through Substack, expands my compassion and love every single day. It reminds me that we are all walking each other home, all learning to love ourselves and each other more fully. In our shared vulnerability and courage, we find the threads that connect us—our common longing for belonging, for purpose, for the freedom to be authentically ourselves.

What do you share here on Substack? What are you hoping to grow in this space?

Thank you to everyone who has been, is, and will be part of this sacred opportunity I have in being Alicia Joyful.

Your presence in my journey is a gift that continues to unfold,

teaching me that love multiplies when shared,

that compassion grows when practiced,

that our stories, when shared with open hearts,

become medicine for the world.

May we all remember that we are nature expressing itself as human, seasonal beings capable of endless renewal, deserving of the very compassion we seek to give.

May we trust in the timing of our transformations and the wisdom of our hearts. And may we never forget that in choosing love and compassion, we choose healing; for ourselves, for each other, and for our precious Earth.

With infinite love and gratitude,

Alicia Joyful

Please, please share. I would love to see your smiles, hear about your experience, and what you are needing at this time.

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Courageous Compassion

Courageous Compassion (Amazon)

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Thank you do you made it this far and I would love to get to know you more. Let’s us this space to share who we are and how we want to connect.