01/11/2026
The Tether and the Chair
I have a Master’s degree in Social Work, soon to upgrade to Licensed Clinical Social Worker "LCSW." I have the clinical training, the Reiki attunements, and a wall of credentials. But if I’m being honest with you today, there is still a shadow that sits in the room with me, quite often.
Every time I sit down in my therapist’s chair, a small, quiet voice from my past whispers: “They’re going to find you out. They’re going to realize you’re just the girl from the messy house, and you have no idea what you’re doing.”
For a long time, I thought "re-conditioning" meant that voice would eventually disappear. I’m learning that the "Wow" moment isn't about being perfect—it’s about being a conduit.
I think back to the "Freaky" times of my junior high and high school years.
I remember waking up with the copper taste of fear and a terrifying sensation of choking. In my mind’s eye, I saw jail bars dripping with blood. I felt a physical constriction in my own windpipe. I knew, with a certainty that bypassed my young brain, that this was about my brother Roger.
I wasn’t the "hero" of that story. I didn't burst through a door and save him. I was miles away in my own bed. It was my other brother, Marshall, who found him on a bathroom floor, choking on his own blood after a dangerous mix of pain pills and partying. Marshall was the hands that saved him.
But I was the witness.
I was holding the spiritual tether. My "Gigantic Spirit" was picking up a signal of distress that no one else could hear yet.
I realize now that this is my true credential.
I felt like an imposter sitting in my supervisor’s chair for the first time because I thought a "Professional" was supposed to have all the answers. But a Healer is something else. A healer is someone who has the courage to feel the "choking" and the "muck" of another person’s story and stay in the room with them.
I don’t sit in the chair because I’ve reached the finish line of healing. I sit there because I know how to hold the tether while someone else finds their breath.
The re-conditioning isn’t about the absence of fear; it’s about sitting in the chair anyway.
*I'm enjoying the magical walk on the shores of my memories. As I walk, I recognize each grain of sand is a portal to far reaching messages from my soul. It is beyond overwhelming to think I have to sift through each grain before gaining enough understanding to convey my story and purpose to you. For this reason, I am following the trail of the most sparkly grains to light my path.
Each sparkle is a link in a Soul Sprinkled chain—a chain that connects my past as a dreamer to my present as a healer.
If you’ve ever felt like an imposter in your own life, or if you’re looking for the light in your own "muck," I invite you to walk this shore with me. When you subscribe, you’re joining me in sifting for the sparkles.
May you find the light in your own muck today, and keep walking—even if the shoes are chewed.
Soul Sprinkles, Shelly Kay ✨️🧚♀️❤️
The Tether and the Chair I have a Master’s degree in Social Work, soon to upgrade to Licensed Clinical Social Worker "LCSW." I have the clinical training, the Reiki attunements, and a wall of credentials. But if I’m being honest with you today, there is still a shadow that sits in the room w...
