We live in a world that asks us to define ourselves early and often—by labels, diagnoses, roles, and categories. But identity was never meant to be finalized that way.

In this episode of Dear Jordan, I reflect on labels—political, psychological, cultural, and personal—and how easily they shift from tools of understanding into cages that limit growth. From ADHD and trauma labels to comparison in education and family systems, this letter explores what happens when people are reduced to categories instead of seen as whole, complex individuals.

Through personal stories, psychology, and faith, this episode looks at:

• Identity beyond labels and diagnoses

• ADHD, trauma traits, and the spectrum of human experience

• Comparison, giftedness, and worth in education

• Why belonging should never require shrinking

• The difference between description and destiny

This letter is for anyone who has ever felt boxed in by a role, a diagnosis, a comparison, or a version of themselves that no longer fits. It’s about embracing difference, resisting identity foreclosure, and learning to belong to yourself before trying to belong anywhere else.

Dear Jordan is a letter-style podcast about identity, faith, motherhood, healing, creativity, and becoming—written from lived experience, not perfection.

You are allowed to grow.

You are allowed to change.

You are allowed to be complex.

And you are allowed to be more than a label.

Before I was a mother, I was a wife.

And I entered marriage believing my job was to be good—not safe, not cherished, not protected.

In this episode of Dear Jordan, I explore how early beliefs, religious conditioning, and trauma shaped my understanding of submission, marriage, and worth. This letter unpacks the psychological impact of negative identity labels, trauma bonding, and why so many women confuse endurance with faithfulness.

Through a blend of personal story, Christian theology, and trauma-informed insight, this episode challenges the idea that submission requires silence, self-abandonment, or suffering. We talk about nervous system safety, boundaries after abuse, and what happens when healing disrupts familiar power dynamics.

This episode is for women who are:

• Healing from emotional, spiritual, or domestic abuse

• Navigating faith after trauma

• Learning to set boundaries without guilt

• Choosing peace over proximity

• Recovering from people-pleasing and survival mode

This letter is for my daughter, Jordan—but it’s also for anyone learning that growth does not require permission from the people who benefited from your silence.

Peace is not selfish.

Boundaries are not betrayal.

Healing does not make you cold—it makes you honest.

Dear Jordan is a letter-style podcast about faith, healing, motherhood, trauma recovery, and becoming who you were always meant to be—without shrinking to survive.

This letter began with a long week, a snowstorm, a broken wrist that never quite lets me forget it exists, and a moment in a restaurant that forced me to pause and look at myself through my children’s eyes.