Shared Links (weekly) Feb 15, 2026
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“For months, Erin Hagerty tried to get the young boy to open up about his traumatic past. Instead, he spent entire sessions avoiding eye contact, staring at the wall and refusing to speak. But Hagerty, a clinical psychologist with the Advocate Childhood Trauma Treatment Program didn’t give up on the child, who had been abandoned…
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It doesn’t have to be a grand purpose either, just something that makes you want to return each day. It can be wanting to learn something new, be there for the important days for a friend or family member, see what happens with Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce, or whatever makes you want to get up the next day to be part of it. That moves us to healing, showing up for our lives each day. That, to me, is purpose. What keeps you here? What keeps you connected to other people?
Do more of that.
I enjoyed reading it. Some of you looking for the best way to communicate your boundaries might find one or two valuable things on her list this season.
I liked
I’m not obligated to explain myself to you.
“No” is also a complete sentence you should feel free to use when appropriate.
Which script resonated the most with you from the list? What would you add?
Over the years of having this website, I’ve had many people suggest that my abusive childhood made me more compassionate and a kinder human being. Or, maybe it gave me a better sense of humor or made me more spiritual.
Or maybe it didn’t. No version of me wasn’t abused. If there had been a version of me that wasn’t abused, he could be more compassionate. He could be a complete narcissist. He could be funnier or kinder. He could be a selfish ass.
No one knows. That version of me is Schrodinger’s cat. It’s all the possibilities because the box can never be opened to see what’s inside.
Whitney makes some valuable points about the new movement to recognize ACE scores, and the impact these events have on children, and adults. I am not suggesting that the ACE-aware movement is wrong per se. It has increased public awareness of the potentially traumatic situations that sadly many of our children and families face today…