I have been an addict since I was a child. No, I wasn’t addicted to any substances. I was addicted to people’s praise. I couldn’t recognize it as addiction, however—none of us can when we’re under the influence—until I learned the term codependency in counseling just under a decade ago. Until then, I sought people’s approval, sacrificed extravagantly, gave beyond my limits, and breathed in their thanksgiving. 

The Way Back to Ourselves is proud to announce the ENCORE of our SECOND workshop, The Poetry Hour 201! Come join us for a night of learning, community and creativity, as we learn about publishing and improving our craft on SEPT. 25 at 8:00 p.m. EST. Register NOW! Seats are limited. Questions? Email us at thewayback2ourselves@gmail.com. We’d love to hear from you! Can’t wait to SEE you again!

The night I came home after my third surgery’s hospitalization held a darkness I’ll never forget. After many months of being bedridden, I finally looked in the mirror to see my mangled body, as my husband propped me up. I was gazing at a stranger. My frame hunched forward and was an unrecognizable, emaciated shadow of my former self. My arms were pocked and bruised with hundreds of uninvited needles that delivered lifesaving antibiotics over the previous months, but also destroyed my veins and sanity in the process. But worst of all, my abdomen had become a landmine, covered in sutures and scars…

The Way Back to Ourselves is excited to present our NEWEST series, The Artist’s Interview. Each month, we will be talking with amazing creatives about life, faith, art, and everything in between. Check out this interview with the founder of Written to Speak and published poet, Tanner Olson. Tanner’s writing has been described as unique for his adept ability to blend faith, humor, and curiosity as he points readers and listeners toward the ultimate source of hope and love, Jesus. So, click, read, share, and enjoy!

The Way Back to Ourselves Literary Journal is proud to announce that our SUBMISSIONS ARE OPEN for the Fall Collection 2023: RESTORATION, which will be published in November. Come learn all about our theme, details, and submission window. Questions? Email us at thewayback2ourselves@gmail.com. We’d love to hear from you!

It’s often we hear about homes burning down to the ground and people losing everything. Collectively, we understand on a gut-level what that means for the survivors. It’s an object lesson in randomness, vulnerability, and the unified response of the village. We understand what the fire does, the lives that are shattered in one devastating night, and the tangibility of a loss that takes years to recover from. But sometimes, lives burn down like houses do, too. And when it happens, we find ourselves a little unnerved by the randomness, our own disbelief, and our less-assured heroic response. How do we navigate THAT kind of grief?

The Way Back to Ourselves is excited to share our newest addition to the blog: The Way Back Devotional. Please welcome Dr. Zaher Alajlani, our newest contributor, as he writes about the very timely topic of FORGIVENESS. May his words bless you and minister to your heart.

The Way Back to Ourselves is proud to announce the WINNERS of our FIRST-EVER “Storytellers” Summer Poetry Contest! Click here to find out who won first place and runners-up. Winner gets a cash prize. The winner and runners-up get publication, promotion, and TWBTO merch! We are so grateful to everyone who entered!

I woke up this morning to what felt like a thousand notifications. If it wasn’t a thousand, it sure was close. To my great surprise, the liturgy I wrote the night before in the middle of a late night of emotional turmoil, which I posted to our Instagram account the following evening, had truly struck a nerve. Hundreds of faithful creatives posted, shared, commented, tagged friends, and direct messaged us that they were in tears, shaken (in all the right ways), moved, soothed, and seen. Somehow, the simple words that fell out of me, written alone in my own need to pray through our realities as faithful creatives, was exactly what this community needed to hear.

My serving roots go deep. As the oldest of ten children, an empathetic listener, and a high-capacity follower of Jesus, I attracted other people’s projects and problems and learned to bear responsibility for all needs I encountered at the expense of my own. This seemed right to me—after all, aren’t we supposed to “deny ourselves,” “bear each other’s burdens,” and “look to the interests of others”? How could I do those things if I allowed my own needs and desires to have any place in my life?

The Way Back to Ourselves is excited to present our NEW series, The Artist’s Interview. Each month, we will be talking with amazing creatives about life, faith, art, and everything in between. Check out this interview with published and award-winning poet Nicholas Trandahl, whose lines are full of awe, myth, spirit, and truth. Just the way we at The Way Back to Ourselves like it! So, click, read, share, and enjoy!

I screwed up—as I often do. I haven’t been quite right with my coordination since getting sepsis and having to relearn many of my fine motor skills for daily tasks—like writing, cutting vegetables, and doing the dishes… And because of this, I am always fumbling, forgetting, and most certainly breaking things I shouldn’t. But back to my screwup: So yesterday, I was picking up a bit after our July 4th party with our friends and church family, and I clumsily knocked over one of my potted orchids. It shattered all over the tile floor into a million little pieces.

This is something I didn’t want to write. In fact, I’ve started and stopped it many times. But over and over it comes back, compelling me to put these words to paper. I am aware it will sound ugly—and you might find reason to judge me. But I’m okay with that. I’m not sharing this because I am worried about me. I’m sharing because I care about people who are hurting, and I don’t want them to be alone or make the same mistakes I made. So here is the ugly truth: I am not who you think I am. I have failed so many—and especially myself.

I just about die of guilt when I worry I’ve enjoyed the day too much. I’ve been trying to come to terms with a slower pace of life for a while now, but I still get bogged down with a near-weekly sense of dread that I haven’t accomplished enough. That I haven’t proven my worth and the world is scowling at me for not meeting its expectations.  A year ago, I left my job as a classroom teacher. I packed up my books and my heirloom wooden pointer, loaded down the car with plants and all the residual candy from my desk drawers, and said to my lovely little school, “Goodbye for now. I don’t know if I’ll be back.” 

The Way Back to Ourselves is proud to announce our FIRST poetry workshop ENCORE! Come join us for a night of community and poetry, as we learn to nurture our artist selves and improve our poetry craft and voice. Register NOW! Seats are limited. Questions? Email us thewayback2ourselves@gmail.com. We’d love to hear from you!

The words are spoken so assuredly by the content marketing specialist who is repeating them to me through her podcast: “Only you can know what is best for you.” … But the words ring hollow... 

Something about the wilderness always captured my gaze. The sprawling plants and towering trees called to me. They spoke of new paths and adventure, of deep mysteries and exploration. The same feeling of excitement washed over me whenever I thought about my faith journey.

The Way Back to Ourselves is excited to present our NEW series, The Artist’s Interview. Each month, we will be talking with amazing creatives about life, faith, art, and everything in between. Check out this interview with Christian recording artist Joshua Leventhal, whose music is full of poetic determination and unflinching honesty. Just the way we at The Way Back to Ourselves like it! So, click, read, listen, share, and enjoy!

So, something bad happened. It doesn’t matter what it was, but it will give some context for the story I need to tell you. As some of you know, I have struggled with clinical depression and anxiety for most of my adult life. Throw in some trauma, a highly sensitive nervous system, chronic health problems, and an engine of a mind that won’t let me rest, and you have yourself the perfect concoction for mental health struggles.

I am a gold digger's great-great-granddaughter. Between 1938 and 1956, my ancestor Noble Getchell pulled two-million dollars in silver and gold from the Betty O'Neal mine in Berlin, Nevada. Now an official ghost town, he acquired the deserted mine in 1922 after it had seemingly failed to make good on its promises of treasure. Noble saw something others did not.