The relationships we choose—our closest friends, chosen family, and intentional communities—hold unique power in shaping and sustaining the stories we want to live.

We're all walking around with stories in our heads—stories about who we should be, what success looks like, how relationships work, and what it means to be a good person.

Your feelings are hurt. Deeply, profoundly hurt. Someone precious to you is gone, and the world feels different in ways you never expected. That ache in your chest isn't something to fix—it's information about how much that person mattered to you.

The stories your grandmother told herself about marriage might be living in your relationship patterns.