The Heart Behind The Emotional Menu

The Emotional Menu was born from a life marked by hardship, resilience, healing, and hope. My experiences taught me that our emotions shape how we see ourselves, the people around us, and the world. My mission is to help others discover that healing is possible and that every emotion has a place.

I grew up in a small village where life was simple. We had no running water, electricity, or indoor plumbing, but we had family and a sense of home. Everything changed when, at 14 years old, my family made the difficult decision to immigrate to the United States. During the journey across the border, I was separated from my family and experienced fear and danger no child should ever have to face. Although I eventually arrived safely, my struggles were far from over. I endured abuse, faced the challenges of adapting to a new country and language, and spent years trying to survive. By the age of 18, I had become a mother. In the years that followed, I experienced divorce, raised five children, and worked tirelessly as a single mother while carrying emotional wounds I didn’t yet understand.

There came a moment when I felt completely overwhelmed.

Then I heard a speaker say: “If I want to be free, I’ve got to be me. And if I want to be me, I’ve got to be free.” Those words awakened something inside me. For the first time, I realized I had spent years surviving but I had lost myself along the way. That realization became the beginning of my healing.

I began writing my story.

As I reflected on my experiences, I uncovered deeply rooted beliefs I had carried since childhood, beliefs like:

• I am not enough.
• I don’t belong.
• I am unworthy.

I realized these beliefs influenced how I reacted to life, relationships, and difficult situations. What once felt like overwhelming emotional reactions were often unresolved wounds and assumptions formed many years before. As I learned to recognize my emotional triggers and challenge those false beliefs, something remarkable happened.

Life began to feel lighter.