Adverse Childhood Experiences and the path towards healing. You are not alone.
I share my trials, my victories, and my stories with you in hopes that if any of you were ever touched by childhood abuse or neglect, as I was, you will see yourselves in my experiences and feel strengthened to voice what you had not been able to before. I hope we can learn together why we respond to life through a particular lens, and that there are ways to climb out of this prison of pain, silence, and shame.
My name is Bess Hilpert

Grow the Good

Be the change that’s needed… Welcome back, friends. I am grateful for each one of you. I see you. I hear you. I am touched by your outpouring of love. You remind me that I am not alone in either my struggles or my joys. You live from your hearts and without judgement. Thank you… Continue reading Grow the Good

Calming the Storm

The row boat, the motorboat and the helicopter… Welcome back, friends. I imagine many of you are, as I am, feeling an underlying sense of anxiousness as we count down the days towards our country’s unknown future. As a survivor of Adverse Childhood Experiences, this uncertainty triggers a deep sense of danger. A pervasive anxiety… Continue reading Calming the Storm

Trust the River

Grace-fully Release Your Worst Stories… Hello again friends. Franciscan friar and founder of The Center for Action and Contemplation in Albuquerque New Mexico Father Richard Rohr, encourages us all to “Trust the River.” In a recent Daily Meditation, he says the following: “Grace and mercy teach us that we are all much larger than the… Continue reading Trust the River

The Odyssey “Home”

An inward path back from adversity… I have felt like Odysseus in Homer’s The Odyssey for the past six weeks or so, navigating a myriad of medical tests, anxiety, loss of sleep, physical depletion, setbacks, loss of way, and a whole bunch of hurry-up-and-wait. For Odysseus, during the sack of the city of Troy, the… Continue reading The Odyssey “Home”

Interrupted Spirit

I received a needed dose of “pick-me-up” this week… Hello friends, I sit in my brown wooden swivel chair padded with pillows wanting to find the right words that will share my inner journey with you. The hope is the words you read touch your soul and resonate with a deep sense of peace of… Continue reading Interrupted Spirit

Uncovering the Gold

This Little Light of Mine… American psychologist and author, Tara Brach, is known to teach us through the story of the Golden Buddha discovered beneath a clay façade in Bangkok in the 1950’s, “Just as the monks disguised the beauty of the golden Buddha in order to protect it during dangerous times, we cover our… Continue reading Uncovering the Gold