During a vacation in Surinam, I had a quiet but profound realization: my life has truly changed. Not because everything is suddenly easy, but because I’ve started protecting the space within me. And that shift, learning to set and honor my boundaries, has allowed me to grow in ways I never imagined. This realization came after we received a message, with the question if one of the children who had once lived with us could stay a while with us. His father was in the hospital,

As I write this, I notice how naturally my thoughts return to the very beginning of project Lifechats. I can still see those first conversations—the moments when someone dared to share for the first time, when something they had been carrying for a while finally began to feel a little lighter. It all started with people. Teenagers, young adults, and adults who felt stuck in certain areas of their lives. People who wanted help, but weren’t ready—or willing—to take the step int