I like a plan. I like knowing what time we are leaving, how long it should take, what happens next, and whether there is enough time to get a coffee before boarding. None of this seems particularly unreasonable to me. Reality, unfortunately, does not always share my commitment to the […]

Content note: This article contains references to traumatic death and suicide.  As the first paid, full-time female firefighter in Fountain, Colorado, Rachael spent over two decades in the fire service, later advancing through the ranks at the Colorado Springs Fire Department before retiring as a lieutenant and dedicating her efforts

Content note: This article contains references to homicide and suicide. A retired Oklahoma Highway Patrol (OHP) lieutenant, Brett is the co-founder and CEO of Warrior’s Rest Foundation, an Oklahoma City-based nonprofit organization dedicated to the mental health and wellness of first responders—law enforcement, fire, and EMS. An experienced peer counsellor,

I went to my first music festival alone, the way I go to most concerts. Nobody in my world shares my taste in music, and solo dates have never bothered me. I know how to be alone in a crowd. I’ve had decades of practice. What I didn’t know, walking

A 23-year fire service veteran, current captain, and company officer, Kory’s service gives him a rare perspective on what drives firefighters to succeed and what erodes them over time. He’s also the founder, publisher, and editor-in-chief of CRACKYL Magazine, a groundbreaking platform that connects science, culture, and lived experience in

Content note: This article contains references to homicide, graphic fire-scene imagery, aggression toward a child, and suicide.  A retired firefighter and the founder of Fire to Light, an organization dedicated to advancing preventative Mental Fitness training inside the fire service, Brandon drew on his own lived experience and independent global

A Compassionate Inquiry® Practitioner, Private Mentor, and multidisciplinary somatic therapist, Lizzie has taught yoga and worked as a Rolfer, Rolf Movement practitioner, and craniosacral therapist for over 20 years. During that time, she also underwent a liver transplant and a colectomy and received a cancer diagnosis, experiences that changed the

I have been sitting with a question lately: When did everything become so serious? Not because seriousness is inherently a problem. There are responsibilities that deserve our full attention. Some difficulties cannot be laughed away, some obligations must be met, and some moments call for being grounded and deliberate. But

Anouk brings a unique synthesis of clinical expertise and lived experience to the fields of growth and development. She joined Compassionate Inquiry® in 2020 and today serves as The Portal Facilitator, Circle Leader, and administrator. Integrating Compassionate Inquiry®’s trauma lens has both validated her belief that our personal histories and

I sat in a seminar on emotional intelligence, and the room turned, the way it eventually does, toward forgiveness. The facilitator traced the word “pardon” back to the Latin “perdonare.” To give completely. To remit. To release a debt. To no longer have to pay. Forgiveness, he said, is something