Hi there! Thank you so much for stopping by to connect!
A little about this magic carpet ride’s beginnings…
I suppose you could say that I stumbled into this world by complete accident. Or maybe it’s been the destination all along, I’ve never been quite sure.
The truth is once I started realizing how much of our outside reality is actually dictated by how we’re feeling inside and what we’re allowing inside our bodies (not just food, but thoughts, emotions, toxic relationships, work stress, lack of self-love, self-neglect, etc.) I felt called to be a conduit for all these amazing tools and resources I’ve gathered over the years to flow from me to you.
My secret sauce recipe is everything I find, learn about and share with you comes from my own lived experience. I seek these things and people out when I need them, and then if I fall in love with them, I share them. I feel like it’s a great way to human, which is why I started calling my offerings How to Human. We need a team to get through this thing called life, and I hope to add a few more tips, resources and self-care tools to your medicine bag and act as a bit of a motherly guide for you along the way.
I love this amazing life we get. I love life and I love living. As much as I love life, I also am deeply aware that life is painfully short, we’re reminded of that every day. Through the years, I have learned to find more beauty, joy and gratitude in the most seemingly insignificant places and things than ever before, and I believe it’s mostly due to experiencing the depth of loss and suffering on many levels from many things. Things become far more beautiful when you learn not to take them for granted.
In my healing journey I sought out healers, spiritual teachings, solitude, connection and so many other wonderful things that have all helped me to heal in my own life and become quite a different person than I was even just a year ago. Isn’t that how it is to be a human though? It’s all about the journey and it’s my duty to bring all these things to a world that constantly seems to be hurting – not as a fix, but as a way to process.
Here’s a little bit of my story….
I grew up in a very Western medicine household. Bad diet, bad lifestyle, medication abound Western medicine household. In fact, in grade school I was a pro at which 2 medications I needed to mix together to get rid of a sinus headache. I thought that was strange, until I realized that I think a lot of the youth of today know the same life in different ways. By 33 years old (circa 2017) 2 of my 3 parents had passed away, I had gotten married and then divorced, had my house robbed clean, always seemed to find myself in the red financially no matter how much I worked and was diagnosed with multiple autoimmune conditions. To add more bite to life, from the time I was in 8th grade I watched my hardworking mother succumb to cancer and a prescription drug addiction, leading my family and I on one wild rollercoaster ride for the next 20 years until she passed from lung and bone cancer at 58 years old.
While there are plenty of people who have had it much much worse, you can say I have been through my fair share of traumatic events. While I didn’t have a “bad” life, I did have a very rough life.
I always made it through somehow though. Lots of angels I’d imagine.
Taking a small rewind – it wasn’t until I was out of college and about 6 years into my corporate career as an HR Manager when I started looking into the holistic world, and boy did my world get blown wide open. I had already been diagnosed with a handful of diseases – the common U.S. ones of asthma and allergies, but also other autoimmune issues like Discoid Lupus, Grave’s Disease and Lichen Sclerosus. All it took for me to look into other options was my thyroid doctor informing me that “we can utilize medication until it doesn’t work anymore, and then we’re just going to have to kill your thyroid off. And then you’ll be on more medication for the rest of your life. Okay? “
Ummm… nope. Not ok.
This is where I think most people tend to get stuck thinking what their doctor says is their only option. More often than not, it definitely is not the only option, it’s just one option. From this point, I believe seeking out ALL the options is our duty as stewards of this human body we received. THEN we choose what the best option is for us. (Please understand that I’m not talking about emergency surgeries, heart attacks or other traumatic events – I’m talking about acute or chronic illnesses, how to manage symptoms, etc.)
While the physical illnesses were very real and took me a very long time to help my body heal itself, the real work came in as I had to peel back the layers through a lot of emotional traumas, past stories, layers of guilt, shame, pressure, etc. in order to find my authentic self and live the life I truly wanted to live. The one that was actually mine, not the projection of anyone else.
So here we are 10+ years later and I’m excited to share that I’ve been in remission from my autoimmune companions for over 2 years and haven’t been on prescription medications for closer to 3 years. With lots of help from my functional medicine doctor, food and lifestyle changes, along with severely detoxing my life on many levels, I’m a small business owner living in Chicago actively creating the life I see in my mind’s eye, brick by brick, with the soul mission of helping remind people of their ability to help their body, mind and soul heal and truly fill their lives with more authentic joy than ever before. Just you being you can have a profound butterfly effect on the world around you.
Yes, you really can do that.
While I don’t ever believe our work on ourselves is ever done, and I actively find myself in the murk of life often (just like you I’d imagine!), I’m healthier and happier now than I’ve ever been, my vision of my future is vibrant and colorful and I honestly owe it all to encountering less than ideal circumstances like health challenges and financial scarcity. I know that might sound strange, but it’s been in my lowest of lows that I’ve found the most growth, the most love and the most fulfillment. While I encounter the same struggles of being human daily just like anyone else, I truly believe learning how to take care of myself in very different ways than most of my peers has made all the difference in my vision for my life.
I always love asking people what their dream is. Mine? To live and travel amongst the creatives and the visionaries. To experience life, culture, food and people all around the globe – not from books or photos, but from people’s real experiences. To learn from them, to connect to my own lineage and to help others do the same. To surround myself with the most loving, inspiring, open-minded, fun people that I can pour love into with reciprocity. To give in any way I feel called. To live my own definition of freedom and success. To live each day with vibrancy and enthusiasm that naturally magnetizes the same kind of people, experiences and miracles into my life. To inspire people. To say hell yes to anything and everything that lights me up.
I’m here to live, not just be alive.
Now it’s your turn. What are your dreams?
xoxo
Misty
PS – Did I tell you I’m glad you’re here? If not, I really am =)
