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Shayla Renae 💖

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Learning to Live in the Light: Emerging from the Cocoon

Learning to Live in the Light: Emerging from the Cocoon

Writing about trauma, healing, faith, motherhood, teaching, and becoming who I was always meant to be.

2026

Stories

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Crow’s Feet: Life As We Age

by

Shayla Renae 💖

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12h ago

My Grandma’s Fate is No Longer Mine

For 40 years, I believed I might die the way she did. Then my pathology report came back clear.

A silver-haired woman with glasses sits beside a sunny window holding a letter, looking thoughtful and hopeful as light fills the room and a garden path stretches into the distance, symbolizing a future she had not expected to have.

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In

Black Bear Recovery

by

Shayla Renae 💖

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2d ago

I Wanted Time to Rest. Then I Got It and Didn’t Know What to Do With Myself

Who Am I When I Cannot Be Useful?

A distraught woman laying on her bed frustrated because she is still too weak after having surgery.

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In

Dancing Elephants Press

by

Shayla Renae 💖

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Jul 22

The Cocoon I Built to Protect Myself

After twelve years of healing, I realized the safety I created had quietly become isolation, and I was finally ready to look up again.

A silver-haired woman wearing sunglasses sits thoughtfully in a bright flower garden, looking toward a cocoon and newly emerged butterfly as petals drift in the breeze.

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In

ILLUMINATION

by

Shayla Renae 💖

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Nov 1

Six Organs Gone. Am I Still a Woman?

My body changed again. My identity had to catch up.

A reflective older woman with gray hair, bangs, and glasses sits at a table with a journal and coffee, surrounded by glowing memory circles showing motherhood, family, teaching and advocacy, and quiet reflection by the water.

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In

Dancing Elephants Press

by

Shayla Renae 💖

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Aug 10

I Wasn’t Just Trying to Prepare. I Was Trying to Feel Safe

One unfinished school schedule sent me into a weeklong shutdown and taught me something about my need for control.

A colorful storybook-style illustration of an older special education teacher with silver hair and glasses sitting at a cluttered classroom desk, looking overwhelmed while trying to build a schedule. Six binders for Transitional Kindergarten through 4th Grade sit beside her, with student papers, a laptop, planner pages, and a classroom calendar filling the scene.

In

Black Bear Recovery

by

Shayla Renae 💖

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6h ago

Thank You, Annie, But I Don’t Need Your Help Anymore

I spent years fighting my Atypical Anorexia. Now I am trying to understand why it stayed.

Thank You, Annie, But I Don’t Need Your Help Anymore

In

Know Thyself, Heal Thyself

by

Shayla Renae 💖

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3d ago

We Grew Up in the Same Home — We Did Not Have the Same Outcome

My brother and I lived through the same childhood trauma, but it followed us down very different paths.

A young sister and brother standing at the side of a lake while wearing rainboots.

In

Catharsis Chronicles

by

Shayla Renae 💖

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Nov 5

When Love Comes in Breadcrumbs

I spent years trying to understand people who hurt me. Now I am trying to understand why I kept reaching back.

A warm, colorful storybook-style illustration of a silver-haired woman with glasses sitting thoughtfully in a cozy room. Glowing breadcrumbs form a path from the room out through an open doorway into a bright garden. Two framed signs read, “I can love deeply without losing myself” and “not all crumbs are enough.”

In

Hope, Healing, and Humour

by

Shayla Renae 💖

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Nov 3

I Thought No One Would Come

Two years later, I can see that the night I expected to feel invisible was one of the first signs I had finally found where I belonged.

A warm, colorful storybook-style illustration of a silver-haired special education teacher in a flowy blouse surrounded by young students and their families during a busy Back to School Night. The classroom is filled with children’s artwork, books, and cheerful decorations, with “Back to School Night” written on the board.

In

Middle-Pause

by

Shayla Renae 💖

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Oct 31

The Distance Between Longing and Belonging

COVID taught me how to stay connected from a distance. I’m still learning how to feel close again.

An older woman with gray hair and glasses sits in a waiting room facing a glowing, sparkly AI woman made of light. Vertical glowing bars separate them while they look directly at each other, suggesting both connection and distance in a technology-filled world.

Shayla Renae 💖

Shayla Renae 💖

Book Author

Friend of Medium

Writer and published author. Mother, grandmother, and special education teacher reflecting on faith, mental health, disability, grief, and the life we’re given.

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