Kristen Hubbard
Kristen Hubbard

Words.

They take what's inside of us and display it for the world to see. They tell stories and paint pictures. They open hearts and close chapters. 

Words are what separate us from all of the other beings on this planet...

Words are what make us human. 

 
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My name is Kristen Hubbard... and I am a writer.

 

I use my words to help others empower themselves and to see the world in a different light. 

I use my words to help others learn to love themselves. 

And I use words to help others who haven't yet harnessed the power of their own writing...or haven't quite got the time...to make a more powerful impact in the world. 

Because I believe one of the most powerful ways to make a difference is to take the very thing that makes us human- language- and use it to reach and connect with the hearts of others.

So...How can I help you? 

 

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Sometimes the choice we are afraid of making isn’t about what we think it is. . We think it’s an external choice- . A move we make. . A situation we end. . A job we take. . An answer we give. . But sometimes the choice we make has nothing to do with anything outside of us. . Sometimes it’s a choice we make entirely inside our own mind and heart. . It’s not do I stay or do I go. . It’s do I open or do I close. . It’s not a yes or no. . It’s an “Am I willing?” . Life will always provide us opportunities to keep revealing these choices to ourselves... Over and over and over again. . But until we can see beneath the surface- we will always think that our choice is about something else. . We will always expect that once the condition changes- we won’t need to make that choice ever again. . But the truth is- it isn’t the condition that needs to change or be decided upon- . It’s us. . #shift #mindset #choices #change #life #love #real #freedom #faith #hope #wellness #letgo #ahimsa #writer #write #words #sun #nature #beauty #willingness #courage #strength #wisdom
I remember sitting silently on the beach just staring at this massive pile of washed up wood. . I always wonder where these types of things come from... . Had someone collected the pieces and put them together? . Had they somehow gotten tangled over time and found their way here? . What was their story? . I couldn’t help thinking how that tangled pile of leftover pieces was like me. . A collection of pieces- stories- things that wash up on the shore over time and somehow find their way to each other. . Our stories are like that... they build off of and into each other. . They form a structure, an identity, a fortress for us. . They string together all the things we think make us who we are, the things that keep us on the shore. . But what if we untangled the stories? What if we just lit them up and let them go? . Isn’t that the other fear? What’s left of the pile when the wood is gone? . Who am I without my stories? . What’s left is the ocean, the wind, the sand, the sun and the stars. . What’s left is a place for a beach chair and first dates and suntans. . What’s left is space- and infinite possibilities. . You are not a washed up tangled mess of your past. . You are the possibility that’s left when all the stories are gone. #thoughts #words #write #beach #ocean #change #courage #strength #letgo #past #ahimsa #reflection #mindset
Fun fact: I don’t like not being great at things. . All of my life I’ve been the girl who could try something and kick ass at it. . It’s made me adaptable. It’s given me options. It’s helped me succeed. . But pottery- not so much. . It’s an art- a delicate yet strong process of molding and shaping and patience and timing... something I admittedly have not always been very great at in my life. . But what I realized about not being an idiot savant when it came to this process... was that after my ego shut up- I really enjoyed it. The focus, the learning, the reshaping. . You see- life isn’t found in knowing exactly what you’re doing. It’s found in learning how to do it. . It’s found in the moments where the walls cave in and you’ve got to start over. . It’s found in the strength and the force it takes to push yourself back to center. . It’s found in the delicate balance of holding on- and letting it spin. . If we’re all just potters and mounds of clay being shaped- for once, I’m okay with not being the best at it. Because it means I’m not done with me. It means I won’t get bored and move on to the next conquest. It means there’s always room to grow. . So this week- I’m committing to practicing one thing I’m not good at- (which will most likely involve art of some sort 😂) to remind me that we are all in a state of becoming. . What can you do this week to remind yourself of that? . #art #patience #practice #evolving #becoming #life #love #happiness #joy #writer #write #words #pottery #courage #wisdom #change #ahimsa
People judge. . (That could actually be the entire post) . We all do- it’s a fact. A survival instinct burned into our amygdala (or maybe it’s your hippocampus- who knows) to allow us to asses if that rustle in the leaves we hear is just a common chipmunk or a predator stalking us. . To determine if the stranger approaching us was extending a hand or a dagger. . In fact- we still need it to survive in this world... But we’ve taken what was once a tool that was used to extend our existence... . And turned it into something that expands our self-importance. . The trick is not to stop judging altogether- The trick is to catch yourself in the act of trying to raise yourself up on a scale that inevitably shoots the person on the other side down... and stop it. . To understand that you don’t know their story at all- because if you did you would only have compassion. . To understand that your commentary on their choices says more about you than it does about them. . To understand that every single one of us just wants to be accepted... and instead of shutting your doors, perhaps you could set another place at the table. . I’m not interested in the judgment of people who haven’t stood in my shoes, walked down my roads and gotten lost with me along the way... . And you shouldn’t be either. . We’re all walking our own tightropes- what do you say we all try not to breathe the gust of wind that knocks someone else off? . Artwork by @brianandreas #love #compassion #trust #growth #evolve #kindness #community #judgement #friendship #courage #strength #wisdom #ahimsa #brianandreas
I’ve spent the majority of my life trying so hard to meet other people’s expectations... . That I never stopped to question if they were my own. . Did I want to be skinny before society told me I should? . Did I want to go to college? . Did I want to work a job that paid the bills instead of one that fed my soul? . Did I want to be in that relationship? . I threw out almost everything from my past that didn’t make me feel good last week... pictures, letters, memorabilia... all in a big black trash bag left in the dumpster. . This picture was the lone survivor. . A reminder of a girl who gave no damns, who was more authentically herself than I ever was before and I ever have been since... . I look in the mirror most days and don’t recognize who I see... . But I see this image and know exactly who it’s of. . The artist. The dreamer. The lover. The wild and free girl who never wanted to be tamed... . Until someone told her she should be- and she believed them. . I couldn’t throw her away no matter how much I wanted to... . If there’s anything she knew that I forgot- it’s that the only expectations you should try to meet are the ones you hold for yourself... . And even then- you shouldn’t hold onto them too tightly. . Here’s to meeting our own standards, wanting what WE want- and throwing all the other stuff that was never ours to begin with in a big black Hefty bag to be tossed with the rest of the garbage we no longer need to hold onto. . #change #growth #letgo #past #moveon #courage #strength #authenticity #universe #wisdom #writer #words #letthatshitgo
Not all moments of clarity or transformation feel GOOD. . . Not all growth feels like an upward movement. . . Sometimes it’s a rooting down. . A digging through. . A dropping to your knees. . . Sometimes the truth about how you treat others or who you’ve become is so painful you want to look away... . Don’t look away. . . The truth can be ugly and it sure will hurt when it is... but it’s only once you feel it that you realize it’s not who you want to be anymore. . . It’s not who you’re meant to become. . . I once read somewhere that pain is the touchstone for all spiritual growth. . . Who else is growing with me today? ❤️ . . #growth #change #courage #letgo #universe #nature #gratitude #spirit #soul #dothework #writer #words #sun #shift
About a year ago I started working one on one with @karenkenneylive ... for 7 months she mentored me- loved me, saw me as I was, kicked my ass... We had a lot of defining moments for me together, her and I. But what I realized today was there were so many more that we had had- I just didn’t know they were happening yet. . I say this today, because one thing I learned was that I could choose to hold on to my suffering. I could choose to continue to believe in the bs stories I told myself about my past, about who I was- and about my worth. . I could choose to believe I somehow was a victim of lesser hand dealt by God... . Or I could let that shit go. . The last few weeks have been transformative, to say the least. Internally and externally. . And today, as I took an action that physically embodies those transformations for me- I finally got it: . I don’t have to be that girl. . I don’t have to believe those things. . I don’t have to play small (in the words of KK) anymore. . I don’t have to choose fear anymore. . I can stop believing that I am defined by my past... in all of its many shapes and forms... I don’t have to hold onto it as if the only thing that allows me to add value, the only thing that allows me to have worth- were the times in my life where I questioned it the most. . It may have taken a year to make the journey from my head to my heart for me- perhaps it was even longer than that- but it made it. . You never know what seeds are being planted. What work is being done on your behalf. What is growing underneath the surface. . But trust me- it’s coming. Let it. #mentor #change #growth #life #fearlessflow #path #journey #letgo #gratitude #spiritual #universe #trust
Perspective. . There is a gift in having the ability to zoom out from a situation and see a bigger picture- different possibilities, more reasons why, different motives. . Someone said something to me recently that automatically put my dukes up- it was ouchy. I took it personally... for a minute. . I let myself have my feelings and make up a story for a few moments and then thought, “what if I’m wrong?” . So I took a moment to explore other meanings of what I perceived as a jab. I took this person into account and how they often talk. I thought about my own “baggage” and need to feel liked and saw that I was bringing that to the party too... . And instead of holding a grudge and spending the rest of our time together brooding and plotting... . I let it go. . And I was much happier. . Because nothing is personal. We are all acting and reacting based on our own makeup and our own experiences and we are all trying to do the best we can to preserve our world as we know it... and if we walk into every room ready to fight the first person who challenges that- life can get pretty scary and pretty lonely. . So...where can you shift your perspective? Where can you zoom out and see the big picture and let everyone around you off the hook for doing the exact same thing you are doing when you judge them? . As the saying goes... how someone treats you is their path. How you respond is yours. #mindset #perspective #shift #change #courage #growth #evolve #love #forgive #universe #ahimsa #compassion #understanding