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

Category: Hope

GO BLUE

Awareness of Child Abuse… Friends, April is Child Abuse Awareness & Prevention Month. Unfortunately, many adults are squeamish at the mention of child abuse. Certainly, adult victims of Adverse Childhood Experiences are reluctant to share or revisit their awful memories. Perpetrators of child abuse keep their secrets hidden deep inside. The result is there is… Continue reading GO BLUE

Sing Your Song

Speaking Shame, Singing Pain, Seeing ME… Welcome back, friends. I have been thinking a lot about the power of sharing my story; and noticing the small, yet significant, changes that have taken place in my life over these past fourteen months. As you know, and for those of you who might not, I share my… Continue reading Sing Your Song

Blessings in the Shadows

Similar Dissimilar Ways… Welcome back, friends. How was your week? Did anyone brave doing something new and embrace the uncomfortable? What did you find on the other side? I laced up my old pink Swoosh running shoes and pounded out another mile around my neighborhood. I dreamed of traversing the cobblestone pathway alongside my friend… Continue reading Blessings in the Shadows

Grateful Joyful Hopeful Full

My strong, capable, wonderful sister during her 310-mile ride benefiting American veterans Getting Uncomfortable… This past week I have thought a lot about my sister pedaling three hundred ten miles through the rain and mud from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Gaithersburg, Maryland. I thought about my friend’s husband pounding out 26.2 miles along the spectator-lined streets… Continue reading Grateful Joyful Hopeful Full

Keep Our Colors Wet

Perfect Imperfections… Mark Nepo, poet, and spiritual thought leader, called out to me this week with the following words: “Not feeling puts me on the sidelines, makes the world black and white, and me, a dry shade of gray. Only feeling keeps me in the scene, keeps the colors wet.” A friend queried me about… Continue reading Keep Our Colors Wet

“I AM…”

Thought, Word, Action… “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our Light, not our Darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you NOT to be? You are a… Continue reading “I AM…”

Wholemakers

There is Healing in the Sharing of Your Story…. They say there is healing in the sharing of your story. We all have a choice in whether to brave breaking the chains of silence or holding on to the protection those prison bars that have become familiar provide us. The high prevalence of ACEs (Adverse… Continue reading Wholemakers

What is Happiness to You?

A Fearless Heart… My husband and I have “chat time” each evening over a glass of wine. It is our favorite time of the day. We stop all our work, stop all our busyness, and just be with each other. We share our day, our thoughts, our musings, and our love for each other. One… Continue reading What is Happiness to You?

Vulnerability and Courage

“Courage Starts with Showing Up and Letting Ourselves be Seen.” … Sometimes it is not easy to climb out of the prison of pain, silence, and shame. Sometimes I feel trapped in a fortress without a direct way out. I can see the trails that lead into the forest of wonder through the windows, but… Continue reading Vulnerability and Courage

Joy and Hope

Can Our Deepest Pain be a Doorway to Healing? … Without question, I had several joy bomb moments this past week while visiting our son. The moment he wrapped his arms around me and held me in the very public setting of a restaurant, I felt joy. I felt peace. I felt tenderness. I felt the… Continue reading Joy and Hope