There’s a moment when the fear of what’s coming feels heavier than anything we’ve faced. I’ve been there—frozen, anxious, sure the unknown was out to get me. In 2023, my husband and I faced something that shook us, and it made me confront a fear so many of us carry: the fear of the unknown.

It’s not the unknown that scares us—it’s the stories we’ve superimposed from our past. The heartbreak, the trauma, the disappointments—we carry them into the way we imagine the future, and suddenly, the what-ifs feel paralyzing.

Freedom comes when we release the past from the future. We soften, stop protecting ourselves from what hasn’t happened, and trust that we’re okay. I share stories from my life and the women I coach—about heartbreak, loss, and the what-ifs—to show how letting go opens the door to peace. We’ve survived hard things before. We can survive what comes next, too.

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Connect with Deanna Herrin:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/deannaherrin/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deanna-herrin/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thedeannaherrin

Website: http://www.deannaherrin.net

There was something about this conversation with Dasha Dare that cracked me open in the best way. The way she weaves photography, self-perception, and consciousness together feels like a permission slip for every woman who’s been trying to keep herself “put together” while quietly longing to feel seen in a truer way. Our stories crossed paths on LinkedIn, but what she shared with me goes far deeper than a professional connection — it’s a whole new lens on how we relate to ourselves.

Dasha walked me through how our self-image is actually shaped long before we ever stand in front of a mirror, and how the photos we avoid looking at often hold the exact wisdom we’re craving. Her view of selfies as spiritual practice stunned me — not vanity, not performance, but a doorway into the parts of ourselves we’ve been taught to hide. One line I’m still sitting with: “You are never the image — you are what’s beyond it.” It’s the kind of shift that makes you rethink why your marriage, your body, your career, and your identity feel the way they do… and what might soften when you stop trying to manage the image and start meeting the woman beneath it.

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Connect with Dasha Dare:

Instagram: @dashadare
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dasha-dare/
Website: www.dashadare.com and www.time2dare.com

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Connect with Deanna Herrin:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/deannaherrin/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deanna-herrin/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thedeannaherrin

Website: http://www.deannaherrin.net

Some seasons of marriage stretch you in ways you never saw coming — especially when you’re doing the inner work and your partner says he wants to… but his actions don’t quite match your pace. I’ve walked that road. I know what it feels like to carry the emotional weight of the relationship, to want growth so badly you could almost shake it into happening, and to wonder if things will ever shift.

This conversation pulls back the curtain on what was actually happening inside me during those years — and how, even recently, the chaos of our renovation brought an old pattern to the surface. You’ll hear why resisting life (and resisting your partner’s timing) creates suffering, what changed instantly when I stopped trying to manage his healing, and the quiet kind of feminine leadership that invites a man forward instead of pushing him away.

If you’ve been longing for more connection, more emotional honesty, or simply more ease in your marriage, this one will feel like a deep exhale.

Come join me — and if this speaks to you, make sure you’re subscribed and share the episode with another woman who’s carrying too much on her own.

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Connect with Deanna Herrin:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/deannaherrin/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deanna-herrin/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thedeannaherrin

Website: http://www.deannaherrin.net