Hello Reader,

You may not actually be tired.

You decided it was exhaustion. That was a reasonable conclusion, so you did the reasonable things.

Cleared a week. Slept. Took the trip. Said no to two things and felt briefly heroic about it.

And then you came back, and within about eleven days the same weight was sitting on your chest again.

Here is what I've noticed after years of listening closely to accomplished women (and men): most of them are not depleted. They are misaligned.

From the outside those look identical. They require entirely different medicine.

Depletion responds to rest. Misalignment does not. You cannot sleep your way back into a life you have already outgrown.

This is not a small distinction. The wrong diagnosis sends you shopping for the wrong help — another spa weekend dressed as a retreat, another system, another quarter of holding on with your fingernails and calling it resilience.

You keep treating the symptom because the symptom is the only thing anyone has given you a name for.

Today's Threshold Question

If you woke tomorrow completely rested, what would still be wrong?

If you already know the answer to that, and have known it for a while, that is precisely the conversation the private advisory is for.

From the Algarve,

Alicia

P.S. "I went to Alicia to look for answers as to why, after having been super driven and fully dedicated to my career and my family for many years, and after exiting from my last venture, I found myself unable to find any new real interest to dedicate myself to a new career and wondered if I would ever find that again…or if I really wanted to... I now know the changes that have taken place have happened at the core of who I am and are not temporary...I recommend Alicia to any women who find themselves stuck with their career, who know deep down they are not living up to their full potential and have the courage to do something about it." ~ Pascale A.

​It's not too late to register for Write Your Healing Story, September 12, 2026 in Carvoeiro. REGISTER HERE.​

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Two Years of The Shaman's Wife!

The memoir follows a woman whose search for spiritual truth leads her to surrender her wisdom to a charismatic teacher—and what it costs to take it back. The Shaman's Wife: A Mystical Journey of Surrender and Self-Discovery turns two this month. To mark it, I've gathered everything into one download: The ebook — $9.99 The companion journal — $4.99 The audiobook — $12.99 $27.97 separately. All September: 25% → $20.98. ​Get the anniversary bundle →​

A Reminder: Essays, notes, and poems from the Algarve coast of Portugal on my Blog, Between Root and Sky. ​SIGN UP FOR MY BLOG HERE.​

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