The uniquely perfect space of “almost okay with it”
Julie Gruber Julie Gruber

The uniquely perfect space of “almost okay with it”

Recently, I heard someone in a painful situation describe herself as being "almost okay with it."

The phrase stayed with me.

She wasn't talking about something small. She was speaking about a loss so profound that I can barely allow myself to imagine it. Yet what lingered in the air wasn't the story itself. It was those few simple words:

"I'm almost okay with it."

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why I don’t use the word “acceptance”
Julie Gruber Julie Gruber

why I don’t use the word “acceptance”

There’s a word that rarely appears in my work.

Not because I don’t understand its meaning.
And not because I think there’s anything inherently wrong with it.

But because, for me, it has always felt a little… unsettled.

The word is acceptance.

I call it… the “A” word.

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When “Just” Isn’t simple
Julie Gruber Julie Gruber

When “Just” Isn’t simple

Few words sting quite like just when you’re living with chronic pain. It might sound harmless enough on the surface, yet it carries an assumption that effort, access, and capacity are universal. In this context, it can feel like a four-letter word that cuts to the bone.

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