Let’s Have The Conversation

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit desireebstephens.substack.com First, a Soft Landing Let’s begin today not with urgency—but with softness. The universe was on our side today. As I opened the live, the song that started playing was “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life.” And listen—that’s not just a vibe, that’s a confirmation. Because this journey has been sacred. Transforma...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit desireebstephens.substack.com First, Let’s Take a Moment Day 96. Whew. We are deep in the sacred. We are nearing the end of this 100-day journey—not as a goodbye, but as a closing of a container. And what a container it’s been: filled with joy, rupture, softness, grief, laughter, deep truths, and a chorus of “me too” moments that remind...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit desireebstephens.substack.com First, a Breath of Gratitude We are here. Day 95.Take that in for a moment—not just intellectually, but somatically. Ninety-five days of choosing presence, choosing reflection, choosing to be co-creators in this sacred work. Today's lesson was tender and electric—a reminder that dreaming is not a luxury. It...

First, Let's Take a Breath Before we dive into the sacred work of today, I want to hold a moment of gratitude—for you. For every time you waited patiently. For every message you sent. For every way you choose to believe that this space, this commitment, would still meet you even when life interrupted. This is community. Not performance. Not perfection. Presence. And today, we’re honoring the beaut...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit desireebstephens.substack.com This article has been delayed because today was my day date with my son, you can check it out here: Also, here is a song for the journey Now Let Us Begin: Celebration is Sacred We talk a lot about accountability in liberation work. We talk a lot about grief. But today, we’re talking about something just as...

A note from me: Normally, only Monday posts are unlocked for all readers — a weekly offering of free reflection and resource. But today’s conversation on Day 92 moved me so deeply, I knew it needed to be shared without barriers. This is the kind of soul work, sacred truth-telling, and liberation practice we do together every day in this space. If this resonates with you, I invite you to become a s...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit desireebstephens.substack.com This is Where the Shift Happens There comes a time in every liberation journey when dreaming is no longer enough. You’ve unlearned, deconstructed, dismantled—now what? You root. You commit. You begin to build. Today’s conversation is a homecoming. Not just to community, but to the self— your nature-being ,...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit desireebstephens.substack.com First, Let’s Breathe Together We made it to Day 90. And whether you've been here since Day 1 or just found your way in recently—this matters. You matter. Every time you chose to show up—tired, hopeful, uncertain, heartbroken—you made a new agreement. With yourself. With community. With liberation. So before...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit desireebstephens.substack.com First, A Sacred Thank You You’ve made it to Day 89. We’re almost 90 days into a collective act of showing up, reflecting, witnessing, and becoming—and today, we paused to name the role that hope plays in that becoming. Not as a cute caption or a hollow chant, but as a revolutionary force. As a practice of p...

First, Let’s Begin in Wholeness Today we stepped into a space that asked us to hold the full spectrum—joy and ache, laughter and grief, hope and frustration. Liberation work, real liberation work, isn’t about staying in the light. It’s about expanding your capacity to hold all of it without breaking yourself in half. And that’s exactly what Day 88 invited us to do. This wasn’t just a teaching. It...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit desireebstephens.substack.com First, Let’s Ground in This Truth Every movement we honor today was once just a story someone dared to tell. From kitchen tables to protest marches, whispered warnings to rally cries— liberation lives in legacy. And legacy lives in the stories we preserve, the mentorship we embody, and the bridges we build...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit desireebstephens.substack.com You cannot sustain what you’re not supported in. That’s the heart of this entire conversation. Today, we didn’t just talk about support—we embodied it. From intergenerational grace to the real-time pivots of parenting and partnership, this lesson grounded itself in lived truth. This 100 Days of Community be...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit desireebstephens.substack.com The Relay Is the Rhythm Let’s talk about the baton. Today I named the sacredness of the relay race —and it wasn’t just a metaphor. It was a model. A map. In a relay, every runner is essential. But no one runs the whole race alone. You carry your part. Then you pass it. You rest. You breathe. You cheer for t...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit desireebstephens.substack.com Imagination, Integrity & the Sacred Mess of Becoming First, Let’s Acknowledge the Bigness We’re in the final inning of 100 Days of Community. This isn’t the end of the work—but it is the culmination of something sacred. Today’s conversation reminded us that liberation is not just a vision—it’s a practice. O...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit desireebstephens.substack.com First, Let’s Celebrate Eighty-three days. Let that sink in. Whether you’ve been here every day or today is your first one, you are a part of this living, breathing, liberatory practice. That is no small thing. This work isn’t about perfection—it’s about presence. You showed up. And that matters. This mornin...

A Sacred Birthday Reflection Today is my birthday. And there’s no paywall on Mondays, but especially today, I wanted this to be a gift—an invitation into a different kind of becoming. Because this season we’re in, this moment in the 100 Days of Community—it isn’t about landing somewhere polished. It’s about honoring the sacredness of being in-between. Not dormant anymore. Not fully blossomed yet....

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit desireebstephens.substack.com A Word Before We Begin Beloveds, thank you for your continued grace. If you were with me live this morning, you know there was a whole lot of parenting happening right alongside this lesson. There were kids with wig sets, debates over breakfast, a cane-turned-walker, and a whole lot of background chaos. But...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit desireebstephens.substack.com First, A Moment of Gratitude Before we get into today’s lesson, let me take a breath with you and say: thank you . Thank you for the patience you offered during this weekend’s replay catch-up. Thank you for the grace with my tech hiccups. And thank you for holding space while I parented, pivoted, and presse...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit desireebstephens.substack.com First, let me say thank you. Thank you for your patience with the burst of updates today. Thank you for the grace you’ve extended as I played catch-up. And thank you for letting me be human —sick days, tech issues, late uploads, and all. This community? Y’all have shown up with so much care, and I don’t tak...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit desireebstephens.substack.com In a world that treats people as productivity units, choosing care is revolutionary . Care is not weakness. It is not an afterthought. It is a strategy .It is a foundation .It is a liberatory tool that challenges supremacy, capitalism, and the myth of individualism at their core. Today, we’re not just talki...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit desireebstephens.substack.com Let’s be clear: change cannot happen without trust . And not just the feel-good, “I believe in you” kind of trust. We’re talking about the grounded, accountable, I-show-up-even-when-it’s-hard kind of trust. The kind of trust that doesn't ask for perfection—but asks for presence. For (re)pair. For truth befo...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit desireebstephens.substack.com We are not meant to just survive broken systems. We are meant to build systems rooted in care. We’ve been taught to power through pain, to produce through depletion, and to push even when our spirits whisper “rest.”But liberation isn’t built on burnout. It’s built on sustainability —on practices that honor...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit desireebstephens.substack.com We are not here to grind .We are here to grow .And growth that doesn’t honor our values? That’s just expansion in disguise. As we move through this season of emergence—when nature reminds us that slow, deliberate unfolding creates beauty—we are invited to do the same. Growth isn't about accumulating more. I...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit desireebstephens.substack.com The Most Dangerous Thing We Can Teach Is the Truth Let me ask you something—what revolutionized you? Because if your answer didn’t come from a textbook, you’re not alone. Most of us weren’t educated—we were indoctrinated . We were taught nationalism, not nuance. We pledged allegiance before we even knew how...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit desireebstephens.substack.com The Daily Ritual of Liberation Justice isn’t a moment—it’s a practice. Not a trending hashtag or a DEI month—it’s how we live . Today’s conversation was about the kind of justice that shows up in how we speak to our children, how we show up at work, and how we invest in our communities. It’s about embedding...