Beverly J. Matthews, Psychotherapist

01/18/2026

01/16/2026

01/15/2026

Choosing yourself is often the first act of honesty after years of quiet self-abandonment. It means recognizing how often you have minimized your needs, delayed your healing, or stayed where your spirit felt unseen. Choosing yourself is not about rejecting others, it is about refusing to keep betraying your own inner voice.

When you begin to honor your worth, your tolerance for what drains you naturally fades. You stop negotiating your peace, stop explaining your boundaries, and stop asking for permission to take up space in your own life. The shift is subtle at first, but everything starts to align when you no longer shrink to be accepted.

Choosing yourself changes the direction of your life because it finally places you at the center of it.

healingjourney boundaries selfrespect emotionalgrowth

01/13/2026

01/13/2026

The federal immigration crackdown in Minnesota has descended on the stores and parking lots of Target, putting the hometown retailer in a tough political spot as it faces pressure from some locals to keep border protection agents out.

That pressure came to a head after immigration officials detained two Target employees inside the vestibule of a suburban store late last week after what appeared to be some verbal sparring in the parking lot. “I’m literally a U.S. citizen!” one shouted as they escorted him into a van.

Both are American citizens and were later released, local officials say.

Target has issued no public statement on the Richfield incident or other scenes at Target stores caught on video.

As a hometown business, “it’s odd for them at this moment, when Minnesota is under sort of occupation, that they are silent,” said Ben Whalen, a former Richfield City Council member and part of a group that helped organize a protest outside the Target store on Saturday.

Target is far from the only company wrestling with how to navigate the presence of immigration agents on their property.

🔗 Read more: https://on.wsj.com/4aS0xPH

01/13/2026

'Be grateful to all those people who told you no. It's because of them that you managed to do it all yourself.'

01/13/2026

01/13/2026

Emotional bravery is not about being fearless. It is about staying present with discomfort long enough to understand what it is asking of you. Avoidance may feel protective, but it quietly keeps you disconnected from your own truth.

When you meet yourself with compassion instead of judgment, healing stops being something you chase and becomes something you allow. Courage begins the moment you stop running from what hurts and start listening to what it needs.

Healing starts where honesty meets gentleness.