What If You Trusted the Loving Voice Instead?

Hi love,

I wanted to share a little story with you—one that may sound familiar in its tone, even if the circumstances differ.

This past week, I was preparing to lead a workshop and poetry reading at the Long Beach Library’s Poetry Festival. It was my first time presenting for them, and it felt like a beautiful, full-circle moment. I was excited. Grateful. Honored to be included.

And then… I started to feel a little sick.

Just two days before the event, my body gave me some subtle (and not-so-subtle) cues: body aches, congestion, and that slightly clouded, foggy headspace that makes it hard to think clearly. A little whisper in my belly—the first pinch of panic—asked, “How am I going to host a workshop if I feel worse?”

That voice, you know the one. The one that creeps in when you’re already vulnerable. It showed up again at 5am the morning of the event, just as I woke up feeling nauseous and anxious. And when I feel nauseous, I usually feel anxious, too. They’ve long been companions in my system—physical discomfort and mental worry, feeding each other in a feedback loop.

“Are you really prepared for today?”“Can you pull this off while feeling like this?”“What if something goes wrong?”

That pestering little voice, poking holes in your sense of calm.

But here’s the thing: I’ve come to know this voice. I’ve come to expect it.I don’t always love when it shows up, but I understand it now.I know it’s trying to protect me. It just goes about it in all the wrong ways.

And the most important thing I’ve learned is this:

Fighting the anxious voice only feeds it.Telling it to go away makes it scream louder.Trying to force peace rarely works. 

Because the moment I make the fear wrong, the more it roots into my nervous system.

But there’s another voice that lives inside me.A quieter one. A steadier one.It’s the voice that waits for me behind the chaos.The one that whispers, “I know you’re scared, but it’s okay. I’ve got you. You’ve got this.”

It’s the voice of love.

The one that knows how to hold the panic without feeding it.

The one that reminds me:Even in your discomfort, you are capable.Even when you feel unsure, you are enough.Even when your body feels off, your spirit still knows what to do.

That voice was there on Saturday morning, too.

It said: You can show up as you are today. Not because you’re perfectly well or totally confident, but because you’re rooted in love. And love is the truest energy behind everything you do.

So I did show up.I led the workshop.I read my poem.I shared a piece of myself.

And while a small part of me still felt a little off, a little raw, a little foggy, I also felt held—by my own heart, by the people in the room, by the reminder that we never have to be perfect to be powerful.

This is what I want to leave you with today:

There will always be many voices inside of you.The fear. The doubt. The panic.

But there will also always be love. And that voice—however quiet or soft—is the one that brings you home.

Trust it.

Listen for it.

Return to it when you forget who you are.

Because no matter how loud fear becomes, love is always the backdrop.

With you, always,

Danielle