-- reminds us that every piece of our story matters to who we are today and who we'll become tomorrow."This book is not an autobiography. I still have too much to learn and discover about myself, and I feel as though I am only halfway there. This book also is not a how-to, because I certainly don't have all the answers. What I hope this book is for you is an invitation to come as you are. To join me, with a vulnerable and open heart, as we connect the chapters of our life stories, and figure out where we go next, learning to move forward from within.The only way to break free was to rewrite my story. Because something would happen every time my pen stopped: it was like my soul was coming back to my body. Like the deepest parts of me that got knocked around and drowned out by all the crap I let the world convince me about who I was came back to the surface. And what was left was only what was real and true. I was, finally, standing in the fullness of my story. I felt hopeful. I felt full. Our story may crack us open, but it also pieces us back together. I'm grateful to have found truth on the other side of lies. Vulnerability on the other side of fear. Empathy on the other side of pain. This is how I know that every season has a purpose, and that holding, even when it leads to letting go, is what clues us into the bigger story being told."'Joanna Gaines