More From Awaken Embers
After the Truth Was Told
ByKristenThere is a specific kind of harm that doesn’t come from what happened —
but from what happened after someone tried to tell the truth.
When the World’s Rules Stop Working
ByKristenSome truths don’t shatter loudly. They change how your body learns to survive. This is for the ones who spoke—and were left holding the silence.
When Calm Feels Like a Trap
ByKristenThere are people who don’t relax when things finally get quiet.
After Survival Ends, the Body Has to Learn a New Language
ByKristenThere is a moment no one names. It isn’t the violence.It isn’t the fear.It isn’t even the survival. It’s the moment after—when the danger is finally gone,and your body doesn’t know how to stand down. For a long time, survival was my structure.Fear organized my days.Hypervigilance felt like responsibility.Bracing felt like love. I learned how…
When Your Nervous System Learned the Wrong Rules
ByKristenThere are rules your nervous system learns that you never consciously agreed to. They don’t come from a single moment.They come from repetition. From watching truth fail.From seeing danger return after honesty.From realizing that safety was conditional — temporary — unreliable. So the body adapts. It learns that stillness means something is coming.That calm is…
For Those Who Learned to Survive Quietly
ByKristenSome experiences don’t leave bruises.They leave adaptations. They live quieter than people expect. They live in how your body braces for calm.In how kindness feels suspicious.In how silence feels safer than honesty. They live in the way you learned to read rooms before you learned to rest.In how your nervous system stays alert even when…